Heart of Duty Vol 1
by Animediva943
Summary: a cold-hearted prince, a cowardly samurai and a war of seven worlds. on their adventure they find love, with each other, can it last with an impending marriage to a princess? AU. M/M , Violence, sexual refrence.
1. Prologue

Hello there everyone, it's me Anime diva with a brand new story. Here is an AU/AT FIC. I guess it takes place somewhere in the feudal era. I was supposed to have had this up last year when I first signed up but I had severe writers block when writing it. But that's over now so ON WITH THE STORY!

I don't own gravitation

This is the first time I am writing a gravitation story.

Heart of duty

Chapter 1: Prologue

In another world, Japan was conquered by England and then divided into seven different kingdoms: Endenia, Axis, Lelouche, Gupta, Eternias, Endymion, and Lazarus. All seven kingdoms had different kings and were more often than not at war with one another. Soldiers are hand picked for battle; half of them with little to no experience on the battlefield. And each day many of these brave and sometimes unwilling soldiers are killed in action. The kingdoms form alliances with one another via marriage. Four times a year a prince and a princess from either allying or opposing kingdoms will marry to strengthen the alliance and better their chances of winning a war. If a marriage is denied or ends in divorce, then the alliance between the two kingdoms would be broken and the two states would be at war all over again.

Endenia was a classic example of wars and alliances. Every year the kingdom of Endenia was always at war with at least one of the other nations. During that year, hundreds of thousands of soldiers are wounded and thousands are killed. One year past, lord Uesugi's only daughter princess Mika was married to a Lazarian prince Touma. Since then, Endenia was at peace but this was the year that they would face the threat of war all over again. This time war was declared by King of Eternias. The only way to ensure that there would not be a war was for the Eternian princess to marry one of Lord Uesugi's son's; either the eldest son Eiri or the youngest son, Tatsuha. Of the two young men, Tatsuha was the least willing to go through with the marriage. Eiri was unwilling as well but Tatsuha had a much more sensible reason why he did not want to get married. Unlike his brother, he was not attracted to women, so there was no way that he could marry one. Eiri was attracted to women and in fact many knew him as a man who had countless lovers. He was always cold to the women in his life. Well, he was cold in general. The Uesugi siblings grew up with a strict father and harsh rules regarding who they could and could not talk to, how to act in public and of course, what to do with pretty much anything.

One morning, Lord Uesugi was informed by a squire that there were Eternian soldiers on the rampage all over Endenia killing his men. Later on that day he was sent a message by the king of Eternias saying that the only way that the war against his kingdom would end was if his daughter married his oldest son. When he received his news, he called a meeting and the royal council all met for the announcement. After minutes of senseless rambling, The king finally spoke to his son.

"The king of Eternias will not give up unless his daughter is married to you. Participate in this marriage for the sake your people my son." Lord Uesugi urged.

The blond prince seemed nonchalant about the idea of a war or marriage. He was not one to turn his back on a duty but to be tied down all for the sake of preventing a war? That was just crazy in his mind. But then again, the whole world was crazy with all these wars going on.

"Father, can't tatsuha be the one to get married?" Prince Eiri asked. There was one major rule during a royal council, never question the king's authority without reason. And at the looks of the crowd, Eiri unintentionally broke that rule.

"It was his request that you marry the princess! And what I say goes, Understand you little brat!?"

"*scoff* fine if it will stop this stupid war." Agreed Eiri. _Dammit, now this princess has to come here._

"Actually son, you will be going to Eternias for these nuptials." Interrupted the king. Lord Uesugi was gifted in reading minds, so he could easily find out what his children and council members were thinking. His mind reading always came in handy, especially when it came to his children.

The King of Endenia sent for one of his warriors to accompany the prince to Eternias. Little did he know was that almost all of his warriors were killed by the Eternian soldiers prior to the meeting. One soldier did survive the massacre and had to be chosen to be Eiri's protector.

"Your majesty!" the squire shouted. He was walking down the hall with the sole surviving warrior. This soldier was in an amethyst colored armor and had pink hair and purple eyes. He was an energetic, hyper, stubborn, and cowardly. This would be his very first assignment as a new warrior. Endenians usually send out more experienced fighter but in this case they were all dead. So he had to fulfill the mission; the mission being making sure that the prince got to Eternias safely.

"It is a honor to travel with you, prince Eiri." He greeted.

"State your name young man." The king ordered.

"My name is Shuichi." He said.

Prolouge end.

Well there is chapter 1. chapter 2 will be up in a few days. See ya.


	2. chapter 1 the journey begins

As promised here is chapter 2 of heart of duty. I hope you all enjoy it.

Chapter summary: Shuichi, Prince Eiri and a third party depart for their journey to Eternias only to tread a rocky road.

Important: I lack experience in writing action scenes so bare with me and leave some feedback.

Maki Murakami owns gravitation.

Chapter 1: the journey begins

After introducing himself to the king and the prince, it appeared that the rookie warrior was stuck in his position. He could not get up after bowing down. "Ah, little help?" he asked and one of the other guards helped him straighten his back. Everyone in the room, especially the prince was beginning to have second thoughts about having Shuichi be his protector.

"Father, you cannot be serious about letting _him_ be my protector." Protested Eiri rolling his eyes. "Look at him, he's pathetic." Those words made the pink haired rookie fume with rage for he was very sensitive when it came to words. But he knew not to speak out of turn in front of the king. Everyone knew that rule. Maybe he wasn't the most experienced warrior or even the bravest or strongest, but he was available so he really had no other choice, after all, many of the off duty soldiers were dead and some of the other at war were either dead or taken prisoner. With no time to waste, the king packed all of their stuff with clothes food and whatever they could use to set up camp just in case. The carriage rider was on his way. Which left them time to enjoy some entertainment from the jester. Sure the entertainment was short lived but it was always worthwhile, especially if the jester, Sakano was giving a show. After the show the king had ordered the jester to go with them on the carriage. After the carriage arrived and the three of them left, their journey was about to begin and it would be a long road; whether the three of them knew or not.

"I can't believe that I have to go and do this damn marriage." The prince complained. Then he glared at his two companions. "Of all the people that I could travel with, it had to be a joker and a coward. Magnificent."

"Who are you calling a coward!?" Shuichi shouted.

"I call them as I see them." Eiri said rudely.

The two of them kept quarreling until they were an eighth of the way there and then when the finally stopped arguing, there was some much needed peace and quiet. But that peace and quiet was interrupted when the carriage and the horse were going over large bumps in the road and then one of the bumps got caught in the wheel, this made the horse get out of control and then it galloped away with the driver chasing him thus, leaving them behind in a forest. Sure thing couldn't get much worse than they were right now could they? Well as bad as thing were there was always room for the worst. With the carriage destroyed, Shuichi, prince Eiri and Sakano were left to find their way to Eternias on foot. Surviving in the woods would only get tougher, since the three of them were struggling to survive each other.

* * *

"eternias is this way." Eiri said pointing south of the river.

"No, the king said that eternias is north so we follow the river _this way_. "Shuichi said. And then the two were at it again. They could not agree on one thing since they left the castle. Every little thing someone brings up would spark an argument between them. And this case was no exception.

"You have not even left the training facility so how would you know where Eternias is?"

"You're father told us to follow the river so that's what we should do."

"He didn't tell us which way to follow the river though." Said the prince.

They all walked along the river going north. They were walking several feet along the river and it felt like they were going absolutely nowhere. Eternias was a long way from where they were and though they followed the map that sakano gave them, they were not even close to their destination. The deeper they got into the forest they were in deeper danger as well, though at the time they didn't know it.

It was the afternoon and the group was starting to wonder when they would get to a town, if they could make it to eternias right away they could at least find a nearby city. Then, along the adventure some stomachs were growling from the need of nourishment.

"I'm sooo hungry!" Sakano and Shuichi complained. They were clenching their stomachs and reaching into the bag with some food from the castle.

"if it'll shut you idiots up, we'll eat." Said eiri.

After a few hours of walking in the woods they all decided to take a break and have something to eat before starting on the road again. However, their lunch hour was interrupted by an arrow shot hitting the cherry blossom tree they were sitting under. The group looks up and sees what appears to be a group of bandits. The bandits jump down from the far away trees and run toward their food and then Shuichi and Sakano tackle them in an attempt to protect the prince and their food. One of the bandits pushed Shuichi off of him and he fell to ground. Then another bandit shot an arrow at the prince which luckily missed him. Then another bandit ran towards him and began to beat him down. Shuichi pushed the bandit off of him and then rose and drew his sword and then the bandit pulled out a bigger sword. And when that happened the rookie warrior ran to a nearby tree and hid around it. The other bandits attempted to capture Eiri who, along with Sakano was fighting them off.

Shuichi, trying to fulfill his mission from the king runs after the bandits and draws his sword and despite his fear of fighting, he does fight them off and protect the arrogant prince. As the struggle goes on they continued to lunge at each other with excessive force. Ending the struggle the tree that Shuichi was hiding behind fell on top of all the bandits.

When the fight was over, the group headed back on the road to eternias, they began to have second thoughts about going on this journey, or at least taking the path on foot.

"_I have to admit for a coward he is pretty strong." _Prince Eiri thought. But then with things slowly getting back to normal, the bickering would start back up again.

"Not bad, for a pansy."Eiri remarked.

"A pansy that just saved your life." Shuichi replied. They continued walking going on like this on foot until night fell and they had to make a decision, keep walking or camp for the night.

"its too dark to keep walking. we should camp here for tonight." suggested Sakano.

"No way! we should keep moving. what if we get attacked again?" the others shouted. finally agreeing on something for once.

Alright there was chapter 2; all of my chapters may be about this length so get used to it. I know some of you are going to say that the whole carriage crashing and them wandering in the woods is a bit cliché but that is how I wrote it so tough. Anyway chapter 3 will be up maybe Wednesday or something, leaving feedback. Goodbye.


	3. Chapter 2:new friends

Okay here is chapter 3. You all are going to have fun with this one trust me.

I don't need to say it again.

Chapter 2: New friends

"its too dark to keep walking. we should camp here for tonight." suggested Sakano.

"No way! We should keep moving. What if we get attacked again?" the others shouted. Finally, they were agreeing on something for once.

Sakano on the other hand was still set on continuing through the night. Sure they were taking a big risk but he thought camping out in a forest filled with man eating lizards and bears and more thieves would be suicide. The joker still insisted that they keep walking.

"It's much safer if we continue along the river, trust me."

Shuichi grabbed hold of his companion, trying as hard as he could to talk some sense into the jester. "If we keep traveling, we'll just get attacked again, and then again. We were lucky that time."

The two of them just kept arguing about whether or not to keep going or set up camp. The prince on the other hand was setting up camp, ignoring the two immature brats that he was forced to travel with. Overtime, the harder he tried to ignore the senseless bickering, the louder it seemed to get. He just kept setting up the tents and a fire, for a spoiled prince, he was good at setting up camp. _Dammed Idiots._ He thought. _Why the hell did father send me with these two? _When the camp was finished he decided to end their senseless arguing. But first he had to find a good approach to it. Some way to get their attention without doing anything too drastic, after all nothing would be worse than having them panic. But as he thought they were still at it. It seemed like they would never stop.

"We have to keep going!" shouted Sakano, pointing to the rest of the large forest.

"And we will, tomorrow morning." Shuichi shouted back. Now it was getting ridiculous and when they stopped for a brief moment, they noticed some of the firewood floating in the air. A lot of fire wood was floating near a tent that all of their belongings were near. They stared at the floating firewood. Oh how fascinating it was to see logs of wood floating into a brightly lit fire. It was Uncanny how easily they were distracted by such a fascinating site. They looked around and saw what could only happen in a dream. The prince was luring the logs into the campfire without even touching the wood. That's when they realized how the firewood was floating. Sakano and Shuichi looked at each other and then back at prince Eiri with such amazement. _Wow. _They thought. "We're camping for tonight." Sakano said. "But we start again first thing tomorrow morning."

* * *

The next day came in a matter of no time at all. The rookie warrior and his two comrades were still peacefully asleep. It seemed to be a good night for the group because thought the sun was brightly shining in the sky. Neither man woke up. What _did_ wake Prince Eiri and shuichi up, was finding themselves in a very compromising position. The rookie warrior awoke only to find himself laying on top of the prince that he is supposed to protect. He screamed and then rolled off of the blond man. Eiri woke up to a panicking Samurai. He chuckled to himself for a moment then took this opportunity to taunt the traumatized boy. But then it would just turn into a verbal game of cat and mouse.

"You were cuddling me!" Shuichi said.

"No, I was just sleeping on my back. You snuggled me."

"I was NOT."

"You were too."

_Ugh. Here we go again._ Sakano thought. _When will those two learn to get along?_ Soon after the morning affairs the group was back on the road to a town. There they could find a place to rest temporarily and then they would go back on the road to Eternias. Hopefully they would not get attacked by more thieves. About twenty miles walking they arrived at a village where they saw what appeared to be two teenage boys being tortured by bandits. At first they were going to ignore the ruckus and continue on but as they got into the village they saw that the torture was getting worse. The boys were being beaten with clubs and pushed to the ground, their faces covered in blood. They were struggling to survive their beating from those thieves. Shuichi began to feel as if he had to do something but he was afraid of getting killed by the bandits. But he couldn't just stand there and let them get beaten. So he pulled sakano aside and came up with a plan to distract the thieves while saving the boys. Once the plan was set it was time to put it in action.

_What are those brats up to?_ Thought the blond. He wondered what the heck those tow could possibly plan. After all they were only capable of flipping out and arguing right? Well, boy was he in for a surprise.

* * *

Sakano led the boys away from the bandits with what looked some of the leftover food that they ate the other night. The two boys ran after sakano with the food. Then the bandits were being distracted by shuichi's swordplay, or lack of swordplay. They watched as he tried to impress them with his skills and he was less than impressive to them. When the bandits' attention got diverted from the rookie, they noticed that the two boys that they were beating up were with Eiri and sakano. Before they could do any damage to the others they were stopped by the sudden dropping of their tunics, Exposing parts of their bodies that were not meant to be seen by anyone but their mothers.

The entire village square burst into laughter at the sight of the naked thieves. The bandits ran off and were hopefully never to be seen again. The entire group of men just stood there in awkwardness. _What the fuck just happened. _They all thought simultaneously. But then Eiri began to realize that despite his strength or experience, Shuichi had some smarts and a good heart. But would he ever acknowledge him?

While in the village the boys had found them and wanted to thank them for their help.

"Hi there uhh… thanks for saving us back there." One boy with long red hair said. Then another boy with short black hair introduced them to the group. "my name is Suguru and my friend there is Hiro."

"Nice to meet you." Hiro bowed to them.

"Likewise." Shuichi said bowing down.

* * *

The men decided to find an inn to stay in while they were in the village but on the way there the usual antics continued.

"I must admit, you have some brains, some,"

"Are you calling me stupid?"

"Well, you're haven't shown the most smarts out of all of us."

"really? I'm stupid? At least I saved those boys. You didn't do a damn thing."

Hiro and suguru just stared at Shuichi and Eiri going at it yet again.

"Do they do this a lot." Asked Hiro.

"This is just them warming up." Replied sakano.

and of course they went about their business just like this. it was beginning to be the routine of their travels.

Okay, there was chapter 3 chapter 4 will be up in three more days. Read, review and goodbye for now.


	4. chapter 3:the prince's day out

Here is chapter 4 everybody.

Chapter summary: with two new companions, the road to Eternias gets a bit smoother. But what happens when prince Eiri and Shuichi go out for the day?

Chapter 3: the prince's day out

The five men were settled in a nearby inn after nearly an hour of Eiri and Shuichi's verbal cat and mouse game. The inn they were staying at was less than impressing. It wasn't a disaster but the village was poor so they could not afford to have many workers to clean it. Bandits would always break in at night and steal from the rooms. Many of the people who stayed in the rooms were either homeless or sick. This inn housed mostly the people with no where to go, the sick, the old, and the orphan children. Also it was the only hotel in the entire village and many carpenters have tried to tear it down over the years; but the owner and the resident fought for this inn every time and won. However this would be the year that the carpenters would try to get rid of that inn once and for all. This year it did not matter to them if anyone was still living there or not, they were going to place a bomb in the building and said bomb would explode in a matter of hours.

"we need to save that space for bigger things, like prisons." the builder said.

Outside of the hotel, there were some builders waiting outside, it appeared that they were ready to tear down that place even if there were still people living in it.

"Today's the day boys." One of them said. "That old pile o dust is about to be blown sky high."

* * *

Meanwhile the group was separated into two rooms since there were only two rooms left in the building. Hiro, Suguru and Sakano all had one room while coincidently, the prince and his protector had another. The other three stayed in to relax while Eiri decided to take a day out to hopefully get some peace. No bandits, no forests no annoying arguments, just one day of tranquility. He wanted to spend that day out by himself.

But the pink haired rookie was not having it. He was given a mission to protect the prince at any cost.

While he was on his way to the village square, he noticed a certain pink haired samurai was right behind him. This time without his armor.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I thought maybe you wanted some company." Shuichi answered. Eiri was usually a loner and didn't like for people to tag along with him for any reason.

"No, thank you. Now go home."

"Oh no you don't." he said grabbing Eiri's arm. "Your father told me to stay with you at all times and that is what I'm gonna do."

"I can take care of myself!" the prince protested pulling away. He then walked faster only for his so-called protector to catch up to him. He knew how stubborn the rookie could be so he figured if it satisfied him he let him tag along.

"You can come just stay out of trouble." He agreed. Then they went into the village square to hopefully relax for the day. They saw some incredible street performances, went to the market to get some food for the inn. Then after that they went on a tour of the town in a carriage, while spending the day together they still fought but not as much as when the journey first began. They seemed to always fight but this just might have been the one day they could actually get along, maybe.

* * *

On their way back to the inn, it seemed like the two of them were beginning to get used to each other. Whether they were fighting or not.

"What made you wanna go out today, your highness?" Shuichi asked.

"I just thought maybe I'd get out today, without being attacked by bandits." He answered. then he questioned his companion.

"Why did you come with me? Don't you think I can take care of myself?"

Shuichi nodded his head then moved a little closer to the blond symbol of royalty.

"I know you're strong but I want to be here for you if you need help."

"So I'm helpless?"

"Uhh…uhh…no. of course not… I didn't say that!" he denied. Then he blushed slightly as the blond prince shot him a mean glare. A few feet away from the inn, they saw a group of builders standing away from it and the entire village was in a state of panic.

_What's going on?_ Shuichi thought.

When the got of the carriage and saw the inn owner run to the builders in panic.

"Please spare this hotel, there are still people living in it." The woman begged.

"Not this time lady." He said pushing her on the ground. "I'm blowing this ol' pile o dust sky high and everyone in it!"

_Wait a minute,_ shuichi thought. _sakano, Hiro and suguru are still in there!_

Shuichi ran into the hotel which was a ticking time bomb.

"Wait, SHUICHI!" Eiri shouted

But much to his dismay, shuichi kept running and was soon in the building. Attached to the inn was a detonator ready to go off at will. It wasn't long before Eiri went in after his sworn protector. Hopefully he would be able to talk some sense into the boy. _This brat will be the death of me._ He thought.

There was chapter 4 chapter 5 will be up soon. Read review and all that good stuff.


	5. chapter 4:are we friends now

Here is chapter 5 everyone. See how the group gets out of this mess. Just to be clear the hotel is wired with two bombs, one on the inside and another one on the outside.

I still don't own gravitation.

Chapter 4: Are we friends now?

_Hang on everyone; I'll get you out of there!_ Those thoughts entered the young warrior's mind as he ran into the building hoping to rescue his endangered friends. He could feel his cowardly nature slipping away, the person he once was had begun to fade into oblivion. Shuichi's biggest fear was that someone would attack him while he was in the hotel or that the hotel would explode and they would all die. But for the sake of the people he loved, he knew that he had to put that aside and help them, Even if it meant possibly getting killed.

Prince Eiri was hoping to catch up to him and talk some sense into this idiot. Also, something in his heart told him not to let anything happen to him. He may not acknowledge it, but there was a part of him that cared for Shuichi. He felt as if he had to do something to help him out. While in the building, Eiri used his psychic abilities to try to find out where the bomb was so he could deactivate it. Many of the villagers thought that they were fools to go into the hotel with a bomb ready to explode, but many others hoped that everyone got out safely.

"Blow the place!" one of the builders said.

"But what about the other people in there, boss?" another one asked.

"Fuck the people! Do as I say and blow that hunk of junk to pieces!" he shouted.

"Wait, don't do it!" a villager cried. "You'll kill so many innocent people."

The leader pushed him to the ground. "Get lost!" his actions caused a riot outside of the inn. The villagers began to revolt and they got into a fight with the villagers.

* * *

Meanwhile Shuichi got to Hiro, Suguru and Sakano's room. The three men were stunned to see their companion sweating and out of breath.

"You have *huff* to get *huff* out of here, NOW *huff*!" He managed to breathe out.

Sakano and Hiro looked at each other. Slight confusion entered their minds.

"Why," Hiro asked. "what's going on?"

Shuichi managed to catch his breath before warning them of the danger.

"Some builders are planning to blow up the hotel and I came here to get you and everyone else here out."

Once the others heard the news about the danger all the other residents were in, they decided it would be a good time to help their new friend get everyone out while the place was still in one piece.

"We'll help you save them." Suguru said. And the four of them went to every room in the inn to get all of the sick and old people as well as the orphans out of the death trap that they were unsuspectingly trapped in. it wasn't long before news of the builder's plans spread throughout the place and it was clearing out fast. The prince had found the bomb but it looked very complicated to diffuse. It was shaped like a perfect sphere, and there was no lit fuse visible. It seemed like it was nearly impossible to deactivate the bomb. But then he thought of something, maybe there was not a visible fuse because the fuse was hidden within the spear. He had no time now, he got the bomb he just had to find everyone else and get out of this place before anyone lost their lives. Little did he know that the inn was completely empty and Shuichi and the others already made it out. But while out they realized that the prince was no where in sight.

"Shuichi! You can't go _back _in there!" Sakano shouted. "What if you end up trapped?"

"If the prince gets killed in an explosion the king will have my head, literally! Now let me go!" he shouted back trying to pull away from them. Try as he might he was unable to break free from the grasp of all three of his friends.

"Do you guys really hate him that much?!" he asked. They didn't respond. The pink haired samurai tried to pull himself away again and was successful for a minute but then the other three got hold of him again. _Your highness, please get out safely. _

"Well, that junky building's clear so let's finish this job!" The leader of the builders said.

"Sure thing, you got it boss." The other's agreed.

* * *

The next thing they know everyone in the village sees someone running as fast as he can out of the hotel. He was out of the building but was not far enough away to avoid the upcoming explosion. Shuichi finally pulled away from his friends in an effort to save the prince. Even though he was already out of the building, he wanted Eiri as far away from the in as possible. As the blond prince was running out, he saw a hand reaching for him. And then he saw the face that belonged to that hand. Without thought, he reached for said hand and was guided away from the hotel. Not too long after, the inn was blown to pieces. Luckily no one was hurt. But the old and the poor now have no where to stay.

"Now what?" a villager asked. "The inn's gone. What are we gonna do?"

"What you can do right now is wait until we build a new one." The builder answered.

"You mean to tell us that you blew up this hotel so you could build a new one in it's place?" the group of travelers asked.

"That's right!"

*drop* "AUGH!"

* * *

Sunset approached and they were forced to camp out again. It seemed like the adventures would never end. But with all the events of the day, it was finally time to wind down, as much as they could wind down anyway.

"Why did you run in there?" Shuichi asked. "You could have been killed."

"I'm not the only one who did that, brat." Eiri remarked. "But it's any of your concern I was trying help you."

The rookie warrior began to feel some sort of relief, at least until a blow was delivered to his crown. He confronted the prince while holding his aching head.

"Why'd you do that for!?"

"Don't ever do anything that dumb again you understand me?" Eiri said. "if anything happens to you I'll be in trouble you know that?"

"I guess." He said.

Eiri then paused for a moment. This wasn't the same bumbling samurai that he met in the castle a few weeks ago. In all the time he has been alive, Eiri wasn't used to anything like this. Plus, his feelings about Shuichi were starting to change. Especially after earlier.

"Why did you help me today?" he asked. And don't tell me it's just your job."

"Well, it is. But I didn't help you just because I had to. It was *blush* because I wanted to." His face became an even deeper shade of red. "So, are we friends now?"

"Yeah, we are." Eiri said. _We are friends. But why do I feel like this._ With those thoughts, the blond prince fell into dreamland. Before Shuichi could fall asleep as well, he found himself taunted by his three companions.

"I saw that." Hiro said.

"Saw what?" he asked defensively. They all gathered around him. Getting ready to tease him.

"We saw how you were looking at him, Shu. You _like_ him." Sakano teased.

"I do not! I mean I do but not like that!"

End chapter 4

Well there it was. Hope you liked it. chapter 5(6) will be up soon. See ya.


	6. chapter 5:Recollection

Here is chapter 6 everyone. I just wanna thank everyone who reviewed this story. It really means a lot to me that there are people who acknowledge it. Especially since this is my first gravitation fic. I always read gravi stories but this is my first time writing one as you know.

Chapter 5: Recollection

Later that night everyone except Hiro and suguru were asleep. Hiro stayed up thinking of a way to get Eiri and Shuichi to admit that they had feelings for each other. He thought of countless plans throughout the night but not one of them made any progress, mostly because they did not make sense. Suguru was growing tired of his partner making these silly plans, he felt that all those two really need is some time, and then they would eventually acknowledge their feelings for one another. After all it took time for them.

"Hiro, we should go to sleep, we have to go back on the road tomorrow." Suguru suggested. He then moved closer to the red haired teen. His body language and tone became more seductive. "If you want, I can take your mind of them for a while." He said stroking the other teen's hair. As he leaned to kiss his lover however he was unintentionally rejected. The younger boy was hit with a slap of sadness. He had never been pushed aside like this, especially not by hiro.

"What the heck?" he asked. Hiro then turned to his lover to see that same sad look on his face. He didn't mean to reject him so coldly; he was just preoccupied with his own thoughts. "I'm sorry." He said. "It's just that I was thinking about the prince and master Shuichi. Wouldn't they be really good together?"

"Enough with that!" Suguru snapped. "Even if they are falling for each other it wouldn't be right to meddle with their love lives. Besides, you know what it's like to have people in your business."

The sorcerer thought about what he said. Then he remembered how back in their village many people taunted him and suguru for being lovers. The law of the village was that no same sex relationships were allowed to take place. But they couldn't help it. They were in love, and nothing anyone could say would tear them apart.

_**

* * *

**_

Flashback

_**One night, hiro and his new lover suguru were in an old shed that the young psychic put together. This was the one place that they could be themselves without the constant scrutiny of the other villagers. They would have their first night together as a couple. **_

_**As they lay in the bed, Suguru began to wonder if his and hiro's love could really conquer it all. **_

"_**You know that I want to be with you more than anything in the world, don't you Hiroshi-kun?" he asked.**_

"_**Of course." Hiro answered. Then his lips met the smaller boy's forehead. Soon after that they were all over each other. And yet suguru's heart was still filled with fear.**_

"_**What's wrong?" Hiro asked.**_

"_**It's just that, no one in this village accepts us not even our families. There's no telling what they'll do to tear us apart."**_

"_**I know." The red haired sorcerer began. "I wish that stupid law didn't exist. I mean, we can't help who we fall in love with."**_

"_**Yeah but my family doesn't even know about us, they don't like you now! If they ever knew they might try to hurt you." Tears began to fall from the younger teen. Then they fell into a loving kiss. Hiro hated to see his lover cry. He hoped that it would never happen again. It would never happen again. Not as long as he was around. **_

"_**No one is going to hurt me or you. I'll make sure of that." He said. And then he pulled the blanket over them and began to comfort his disheartened lover. **_

_**End flashback.**_

* * *

"You're right." Hiro said. "But you have to admit they'd make such a cute couple."

Suguru pushed him down on the grass. He was now lying on top of the taller man.

"That's enough. We'll deal with them later; right now let's tend to our needs."

"And by ours you mean yours right?" hiro remarked. Then gently pushed Suguru onto the grass and began to pleasure his psychic lover.

Even more lately that night the blond prince woke up to some odd moaning; he saw the two boys he met in the village expressing their love right before his eyes. Disgusted by the sight, he got up and took a brief walk around the forest. Then he looked back to make sure that he didn't wake Shuichi. He walked to a nearby pond and began to think about his past, present and future.

_I can't believe that I am feeling this way about a cowardly, clumsy little brat. I mean he is pathetic, he cant stand up for himself, he's afraid of damn near everything and on top of that he's not even a fighter. So why the hell am I thinking about this idiot every single minute? That damned brat. All he does is meddle in my business and make me rescue him. But why do I rescue him? But I guess I did underestimate him. After all, he did take a beating from those bandits for me the other day. And he did save those other brats, and me. But that's beside the point. I am a MAN! I shouldn't be having these feelings for him. I have a duty to fulfill, and that duty is marrying this princess. But how can I do that if I have feeling for someone else. And of all people that brat. Sure he seems to care for me now, but how do I know that he will always care for me. Everyone in my life that I have ever been close to has lied to me, has betrayed me. How is this kid any different? But I do think he is different. I want him to be. But is he really?will Shuichi betray me the same way that__** he**__ did? And… what happens after I marry this princess. Is he going to find another prince to travel with?_

Eiri then pulled out a locket that was given to him by his late mother. He opened it and it played sweet, chime-like music.

"I want to trust him. But I don't think that I can. How do I know, he won't abandon me, or betray me or worse, leave me alone, like you did mother? I'm fine on my own, I don't need friends. I especially don't need him." Then he walked back to the camp and fell back asleep.

**

* * *

**

ONE WEEK AFTER…

The group was on a ferryboat that was heading straight for eternias. It had already been two weeks since Shuichi and Prince Eiri were traveling together. They had been on the boat for three days and were still not even close to Eternias. Over that period of time, the two men were still very stubborn about how they really felt. They knew it but refused to acknowledge their love for one another. Even when their comrades teased them about it.

"Dammit Shuichi, just tell the prince that you love him already! You know that you do." Sakano teased.

"I already told you guys, I don't feel that way about him! We're guys! And-

"So what!?" shouted Hiro. "If you like someone it shouldn't matter what gender they are as long as they make you happy, right?"

"Well…yes but… even if I was in love with him, which I am not, he wouldn't like me anyway."

Hiro grabbed his friend's shoulders. "You don't know that Master Shuichi. He might feel the same way. Go and talk to him."

Meanwhile suguru was shockingly giving Eiri the same treatment.

"I said leave me alone about that!" the blond prince shouted.

"But you know it's true." He said. "And I have a feeling that he feels the same way for you."

Even though Eiri had suspected that shuichi had feelings for him he still had doubts. But why wouldn't he? After all, Shuichi might think that he is just an arrogant prince.

"Hell do you know? Even if I liked Suichi and I am not saying that I do, he doesn't feel that way about me."

"You won't know unless you go and talk to him. Without getting into any senseless fights." Suguru said.

Eiri walked away from the psychic teen. So what if he was possibly right. There was no way that he would admit that he loved anyone. He was used to being alone; he was used to people lying to him. Why would that pink haired rookie be any different? But in the back of his mind he thought that maybe just maybe, they might have a connection. Maybe this was real. But he didn't know for sure.

Well, there it was chapter 6. Chapter 7 should be up in a bit. Bye.


	7. Chapter 6 :assassins creed: part 1

Okay here is chapter 7. I know some of you may think that things between Shuichi and Eiri might be moving a little slow. But that's how I'm gonna take for a while so be patient.

Must I say it? Really?

Chapter 6: Assassins creed part 1

The ferryboat made a stop in a nearby town for some people to get whatever supplies they needed for wherever they were going. The group of travelers all went to markets and even weapon shops to stock up in case of any food storages or surprise attacks. Also it would be a few hours before the boat left again for Eternias so this would be a good time for the guys to relax.

While in the town,the guys were buying food and weapons in the markets. They were supposed to just relax until the ferryboat arrived. Hiro was up to his old tricks with the rookie yet again. It seemed like he wouldn't give up until Shuichi finally admitted that he was in love.

"Cut it out, Hiro!" he shouted.

"Not until you say you love the prince." Hiro said.

He knew that his friend would not stop. There was only one thing he could do that would hopefully get the sorcerer off his back.

"Alright, it's true; I'm love the prince but I don't know if he feels the same way!" then he began to open up about why he believed he wasn't worthy. "In fact I don't know why any woman or man would ever fall for me? All my life I've been afraid of everything. I'm not brave or strong; I don't have magic or any special abilities like the rest of you. I've always been the last person picked. I've always been at the bottom of the barrel. No one has ever thought highly of me, not even my own father. I thought becoming a warrior would help me become more of a man but look what happens. I end up falling in love with one. I'm not a man. I don't know what I am. Not one person has ever acknowledged my existence before. Why would he?"

_Smack. _A harsh blow was dealt across the pink haired teen's face. Hiro could not stand to here anymore of his friends doubts but now he knew why Shuichi has been the way he was for so long. He started to see the real Shuichi. The man who would do anything for the people he loved. And he wanted him to know that.

"Master Shuichi, You are one of the bravest warriors that I've ever met in my life. Sure you may have been a coward at the beginning but I've seen you put that fear aside for the people you care for. A true coward wouldn't have run into an exploding building to save his friends. You risked your life for us and the prince. You camped out in forest for nights at a time; you even traveled miles away from home just to fulfill your mission. If that doesn't prove your strength and bravery then I don't know what does. Now do yourself a favor and confess your feelings to him already!"

The sorcerer used a levitation spell to make his pink haired friend float to the man he was supposed to guard. The blond royal man saw what was happening and tried to walk ahead of the childish boys. _To think that these are the people who are supposed to look out for me._ He thought. Then his so-called protector caught up to him without help from his sorcerer friend.

"Now what?" he asked.

Shuichi tried to move closer to him, hoping that he would listen to his confession.

"I umm…I-I have something to tell you, your highness."

"What is it?" he asked. Then Shuichi's face turned a deep red and he was silent. It was Almost as if he forgot what he was going to say. He never felt like this around anyone before. Not even a woman. So, he had no Idea how to go about it. Would he just blurt out like vomit or would he find a way to show him how much he wanted to be with him? Either way, this was the very first time that he was in love with anyone or he had no idea what to do.

"I'm waiting." He said with a harsher tone. Then he noticed the rookie's bright red face. He began to suspect what he was about to be told. However he did not get the answer he expected.

"GET DOWN!" Shuichi shouted and then pounced on him. The blond prince looked around to see a wad of acid melting part of the ground. Then he saw what appeared to be a burn mark on his friend's arm. Since the samurai wasn't wearing his armor. His skin was unprotected from the acid.

"Oh no. Shuichi are you alright?" he asked helping him up.

"I'm fine. Its just a little burn." The pink haired teen answered. But it became far more serious when he moved his hand and Eiri saw blood coming from his arm(uhh, I'm not sure what kind of acid does that but I'm sure it's not hydrochloric acid or chloroform because he still has his skin.)

"You're not fine! We need to get you to a doctor!" he shouted. He worried about his young friend. But then they saw what looked like a demon with rocky skin. Between the rocks was molten muscle, and he had the horns of a Billy goat. Behind them was a similar looking demon. The demons were attacking the town and it seemed like the five men were in their territory. It wasn't long before they were surrounded by the goat horned monsters. Behind the monsters was a group of assassins. The assassins' controlled the beast and ordered them to attack again. Hiro and suguru were successful at destroying the first one. But after that many more showed up.

"Didn't I tell you?!" sakano cried. "These demons travel in packs. There's no way you can beat them all!"

"I know one thing we _can_ do… RUN!" Shuichi shouted and fast as they could they ran away from the pack of demons and the assassins that controlled them. Suguru had an idea while they were running from the beasts.

"We should lure them into the nearest forest. That way they can't hurt any innocent people." He suggested.

"Okay, as long as we don't have to sleep in the forest again." Hiro agreed.

"Let's do it." Shuichi agreed.

* * *

They all ran as fast as they could into the forest and hid in an old and nearly collapsible shed.

While there, the psychic was using his energy to heal his friends wound.

"It might still hurt for a few more minutes but after that you should be completely healed after that."

After that was taken care of, the others began to wonder if they would ever get back to the boat in time. After all, was set to leave in four hours. "I hope we don't have to sleep in the woods again." Hiro said. "I think my back is starting to itch from sleeping on the grass so much."

* * *

Meanwhile the assassins were looking for them in the town. They were going to destroy everything in plane sight. Anything just to fulfill their mission.

"Have you found them yet?" one of them asked.

"I've checked every inn and every marketplace but I could not find lord Uesugi's son anywhere." Another answered.

"No matter, we'll find him and make sure that he doesn't get to his destination. CHECK THE FORSEST! LEAVE NO TREE UNTURNED! DESTROY EVERYTHING THERE UNTIL YOU FOUND THEM!" He shouted to all of his troopers. And they went to search the forest. Once they found him, Eiri would surely be a dead man.

Back at the shed Shuichi was still recovering from his injury. Hiro was standing outside of the shed to see if the demons or assassins would be looking for them.

"What could those guys possibly want?" He said to himself. I mean, why would they attack the prince?" then he realized that the assassin's were sent to kill prince Eiri.

He stood guard for about an hour and didn't see anyone. He sat by the door and his eyes were getting heavy. His body became limb too. But before he could close his eyes, he saw some darts being shot at the shed. That's when he realized that the assassins found them. And he went back inside to warn them just before another dart was fired.

"They've found us!" he warned.

"dammit! Now what?" Eiri shouted.

They heard banging sounds on the door. They knew that they couldn't do very much. Luckily they stopped to buy weapons just in case. They each grabbed the weapons of they're choice and were ready to face the killers. On the other hand, they weren't about to let they're pink haired friend get hurt a second time.

"Master Shuichi, you have to sit out of this one." Suguru said.

"No!" he said.

"But you just recovered from that acid burn! I can't let you get hurt again." He added.

"I know who those assassins are after and I won't let you guys get hurt because of me." He said.

He picked up a brawl sword and still joined the battle against the psychic's wishes. He wasn't about to let his friends be murdered for him. After nearly fifty tries, the assassins broke into the shed. Ready and waiting for a fight.

"Master Shuichi, take the prince and get out of here!" shouted Hiro.

"What about you guys?" Shuichi cried.

"I'll be fine. Take suguru out of here, too." He ordered.

The psychic teen threw his arms around his lover.

"I'm not leaving without you!!" he cried.

Hiro then pushed him to shuichi and yelled once again for them to leave. Only to find that the door was being blocked by one of the assassins.

"Looks like there's no choice, we have to fight." Shuichi said to suguru. And they prepared themselves for a fight they would never forget.

Well, there was chapter 7. next will be the fight with the assassins and how it ends. Find out if they win and if they make it to the boat on time. See you on Friday.


	8. chapter 7:assassins creed:part 2

Okay everyone here goes chapter 8. I know I said that I'd have it up by tomorrow but I have to go to my friends graduation tomorrow so I'm gonna put this chappy up today.

Thank you Maki Murakami for letting me post this story based on your Manga.

Chapter 7: assassins' creed part 2

When the battle began, it was extremely intense. Magic spells were being tossed around, swords and other weapons were crossing each other. Psychic energy filled the entire shed. The fight grew increasingly more violent as it went on. Some of hiro's spells were a direct hit on a few of the assassins, while Shuichi just did his best to outsmart them as much as he could. He wasn't very much of a fighter, nor was he handy with a sword; in fact he barely made it through the academy. But if fighting meant protecting his friends then he would do it. He figured that the assassins were strong but not exactly bright. So he would do his best to catch them off guard.

There was no way that prince Eiri was going to just stand around and watch them handle everything; he sat in a nearby corner pretending to hide from the assassins. However what no one knew was that while he was "hiding" he was using his telekinetic abilities to help them beat the assassins; Especially Shuichi, knowing how unskilled of a fighter he was. One by one the assassins were defeated but leaving wounds and bruises on each of the heroes. It was down to three assassins. One of them was scouring the shed looking for the blond prince. When the rookie warrior realized this, he went and tried to distract him from finding his prince. He crossed swords with the assassin before tackling him. Then his opponent tried his hardest to push him off with his ax.

_I can't let him find the prince!_ The pink haired boy thought. He was fighting with all his might not to be pushed off. Then out of nowhere, the assassin dropped his ax and reached for something else. Shuichi sat up in confusion but prepared himself for what was coming but even Suguru couldn't see _this_ coming. He and hiro defeated the other two assassins and they were both exhausted by the battle.

The last fighter pulled out a dart, one of the same darts that hit the door when the sorcerer was on guard duty. Shuichi tried to block the dart with his sword but it had already been lodged in his lower thigh. Also the assassin was unintentionally impaled with the sword. Blood spilled out of both of their bodies and before his life came to an end, he gave this message.

"At least I won't die alone… *drops*"

* * *

When it was finally over, Suguru pulled the dart out of his friends body only to realize what the fighter meant by those words. He noticed a clear liquid on the dart dripping from the weapon. "Oh no!" he cried. Then he saw that the young boy was unconscious. If his suspicions were true, then he was in grave danger.

"HIRO MAKE AN ANTIDOTE, NOW!" he cried.

"What's wrong?" he asked running to his panicking lover. "Is Master Shuichi okay?" then he noticed the wound on the samurai's leg and his lifeless body. That's when he realized the horrible truth. That last assassin poisoned his companion. Action had to be taken fast. "Alright, give me a few minutes and the antidote will be ready." He said.

"What's going on?" Eiri asked Coming back from behind the scenes. Then he saw his protector lying motionless in the psychic's arms. _No, NOOO! _He thought. Suddenly his heart was broken in two. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. The man he was starting to fall for was lying there possibly dead.

"Is he… alive?" the prince asked in a broken and worried tone. Suguru checked the fallen warriors pulse and saw that it was still there, barely.

"He is but I don't think we have much time!" he cried. Then his worry grew as a foam-like substance escaped from his mouth. "HIRO, HURRY UP WITH THAT ANTIDOTE!" then his prayers seemed to be answered when the sorcerer arrived with the potion. They sat their fallen comrade onto the bed and Suguru held his mouth open while his lover gave him the antidote. "Please, Shuichi." Eiri whispered wiping his eyes. "Please don't die." After receiving the potion, Shuichi's body seemed to calm down. The foam disappeared and it looked like he was sleeping soundly. It appeared that the men would have to sleep in the woods yet again. But as of that moment their main concern was Shuichi.

* * *

After a few hours of resting and with the blond prince beside him, the pink haired teen finally woke up he saw that Hiro and Suguru were asleep after tending to their own wounds. He also noticed that the shed was a complete mess from the battle.

Eiri was the only one who was still wide awake. When he saw his prince sitting beside him, He started to think that maybe Eiri wasn't such an arrogant bastard after all.

"What in god's name were you thinking getting into a dangerous fight like that?" Eiri asked. "Don't you realize that you damn near died and for what? Doing what my father is telling you to do."

He then turned away from him. He didn't want Shuichi to see him this way.

"It's clear that all I am is a burden to you and your friends. When this journey ends you can return to Endenia and pretend that you never even met me. That way you won't have to remember getting poisoned for my father. You really are pathetic you know that. I can't stand you!"

Shuichi just couldn't take hearing this anymore. It didn't matter to him if he was still recovering. He was not about to let his prince blame himself or him for being hurt again.

"Your majesty, I didn't try to protect just because your dad said so. Even if it is my duty, my heart told me to stop that killer. I did it because I…b-because I-I-"

The blond prince turned back around and saw that shuichi was beginning to cry. He didn't want to see him like that. _Great,_ he thought. _I made him cry. _

His heart began to hurt from seeing his friend cry. He wanted to get him to stop but how?

"My prince I…I think I…" he started. Then Eiri did what he thought he would never do.

He leaned in and pressed his lips against his healing friend. Shuichi was startled by the kiss but at the same time wanted this to happen. He responded to the kiss by wrapping his arms around his prince. When the kiss broke, neither of them knew what to think. It seemed like it was a dream. There was no way that they kissed in real life. There was Just no way. But it wasn't a dream.

_I love you, Prince Eiri._ He thought._ I really love you. And I want to love me…_

Then after that, the blond prince left the shed in bewilderment.

"What the hell did I just do?" he said.

Okay, that was chapter 8. I would have put this up tomorrow but like it said I have to go to my friend's graduation so I'm putting this up today. Chapter 9 will be up soon. See ya.


	9. chapter 8: how do you feel about me?

Here is chapter 9. I know that I didn't update this as fast as I usually do but that's because I have a job now so updates for this story will be a little slower.

Chapter 8: how do you feel about me?

Several days passed since the assassins attacked. The group had to sleep In that shed for that night. Since then, Eiri was avoiding his protector with any excuse that he could find. He was in complete disbelief of what he just did that day. It was one thing for the younger boy to cry for him, but when he kissed him, that was when things between them got awkward. What could he do from there? It wasn't like he didn't want to. He did but the way it happened seemed like it was meant to happen. But was it really? As a prince he knew that he was supposed to get married and stop the threats of a war. But for some reason, he was unable to get his mind off of a kid who he at first thought was worthless.

While in his room, the blond prince was writing in his tables. He was still wondering why he kissed Shuichi when he did. Even if he wanted to, what if Shuichi didn't? plus it was still difficult for him to believe that anyone could really love him for him and not just his royalty. Maybe it was the real thing, maybe.

_I know that I have told you this a few days before. But I still don't believe that that brat can truly care for me. I want to believe that he does, but I also know that he along with all the other men is afraid of my father. Sometimes I wonder, if I weren't next in line for the throne, would he still risk his life for me like he did before. Ever since then, I haven't spoken to him. Not because I hate him or anything, but because I just don't know how I feel about him yet. On one hand, I thought he was nothing more than a worthless runt who I wouldn't give a second glance. But on the other hand, I feel different now. I think that he might be trustworthy. But I just can't fall in love with him. I can't. What if he betrays me like all the others?_

Those thoughts trailed his mind while he was in his room. He still was unsure if he could trust anyone after being lied to and abandoned for so long.

* * *

After a few hours of recovery, the gang finally gets on another ferry boat to eternias. Hiro and suguru were in their rooms lying comfortably next to each other. Holding each other arm and arm in the bed. They wondered how things would go as they were on this journey.

"I hope that when this is all over that we can finally get married." Hiro said.

Suguru looked into the magicians eyes. He was in such shock and joy of what he heard._ Married, me and hiro? I can't believe it. _He leaned in and their lips met in a loving kiss.

"I was hoping you would say that." He said happily.

Then they began to lose control of their desires and began to caress one another's bodies. Already half naked Hiro reached under the covers for what appeared to be the psychic's underwear. He then kissed his lover's neck and began to tease him from under the blanket. This made his little lover moan in pleasure.

"mmm… hiro…"

Then without warning, the black haired psychic started to shake severely, almost as if he was having a seizure. And along with that seizure, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and images were popping in his mind.

**Image **

**Pirates jumped on the ferryboat and attacked everyone on board. They captured and slaughtered everyone in plain sight. Then one of the pirates grabbed hold of an unconscious prince Eiri. **

End image.

When it was over, Suguru had a horrified look on his face. For as long as he had visions none of his visions have ever been wrong, good or bad. And that was the problem.

"suguru?" Hiro whispered. He saw the distraught look in his lover's eyes.

"I just saw pirates, hundreds of them attacking the ship. And they're going to capture the prince. We have to warn him and master Shuichi." He said. Then he went on to the top deck to warn the royal heir of his vision.

* * *

Meanwhile on the top deck, Shuichi woke up to find his prince on the top deck staring out into the ocean. _I wonder what he's thinking about._ He thought. Then he walked toward the blond prince. Eiri looked at his pink haired protector and tried to walk away but he was then stopped by the boy.

"You're majesty, may I talk to you for a moment?" he asked.

"There is nothing to talk about." Eiri replied. Then he tried to gesture the pink haired rookie away, but was unsuccessful. He had to face the younger man now. There was no avoiding it.

"This better be important." He said harshly. Shuichi tried to remember what he wanted to talk to his prince about but as soon as he tried to ask, he couldn't think of it. Then he remembered the incident with the poison. That was when he remembered what he wanted to ask him about.

"I just want to know," Shuichi began. "… How do you feel about me?"

After hearing that question, all of the prince's thought came to a halt. Sure he did feel somewhat attached to the boy in a way, but he still had some deep trusting concerns about him. After all, he didn't like to get close to people but something about Shuichi was different.

"It's like I said before, we're friends." He responded.

But that wasn't enough. They both knew that somewhere deep down they wanted to be more than friends. However, because of the arranged marriage, it could not happen. But Shuichi wanted them to be more than just friends.

"How can you say that after the other day?!" he shouted.

The blond man stepped closer to him; cornering him to the edge of the boat. Then he placed his hand gently on his protector's delicate face.

"I guess that kiss got you confused." He started. "I only did that because…actually I don't know why I did that. But it had nothing to do with me being in love with you or anything like that."

Once he heard that, Shuichi's heart began to break into pieces. He couldn't believe what he just heard. The man that he has grown to fall in love with didn't feel the same way that he did. He thought of him as a friend and nothing more. So he believed.

"But…but I…" he stuttered.

"You what?" he taunted. "Are you going to tell me that you're in love with me? That all of those things you've done were because you really care for me? And that you really want to be my lover? *scoff* don't make me laugh."

"I can't believe you!" the pink haired warrior yelled. "After all that we've been through; you still don't think that I care what happens to you!?"

"I know that you care, but not for the reason that you say that you do!" Eiri replied. Then he went back to the lower deck. He still doesn't believe that the man that his father chose to go with him on this journey could really care about _him_, Just who he's related to. Shuichi just stood out there, wondering if the prince will ever trust him.

_I knew it! _He thought. _The prince still thinks that I am only doing this because of the king. Yes it is my mission to keep him safe but over the course of this journey, I've really grown to love him. I really love him and I want him to believe that. I want him to trust me._

* * *

Meanwhile, Eiri was down in the lower deck of the boat when he was approached by a bearded man.

"Where do ye think ye going lad?" he asked. Eiri pushed the bearded man aside.

"Where I go is none of your concern." He said. Then he continued to walk to his room but was soon stopped by a large group of bearded men.

"it looks like this one is a feisty one captain." One of them said.

"I don't know what any of you want, but it better not have anything to do with me." Eiri remarked. Then the men got closer to him. He knew running wouldn't do any good, so he had to fight back. He used his mind to move some heavy objects far enough to hit some of them. But when he did that, things went from bad to worse.

"Alrighty my crew, get this fancy boy!" the pirate ordered. Then they all tried to capture Eiri but many of them were unsuccessful. Eiri fought them off with his psychic and physical abilities. However just when it seemed like it was all over, Eiri was hit in the head and soon everything in his view went dark.

* * *

When Hiro and suguru got to the top deck, they saw their friend staring at the ocean in a dazed mood. But they knew that they had to tell him about the vision.

"Master Shuichi," they began. Shuichi turned around and saw his two friends with distraught looks on their faces. Then he knew something bad happened or was going to happen.

"I just had a vision that pirates were attacking the ship and…"

"WHAT? PIRATES!" he shouted. Then he began to go into a supreme panic.

"I'm not done." Suguru said. "I also saw the prince being kidnapped by those pirates."

"so what?!" Shuichi shouted. "Why the hell should I care what happens to that bastard?!"

"Umm… master, I don't understand." Hiro responded. Then they saw a group of men who appeared to be pirates carrying someone to the top of the deck. Soon they saw that the person was Prince Eiri himself.

_Oh, no. _He thought. _Suguru was right. _"What are we going to do?!" shuichi shouted.

Well there was chapter 9. The update for chapter 10 will be up soon. Well as soon as I can because I'm working this month. In fact all of my updates will be slower this month.


	10. chapter 9:pirates of the ottoman part 1

Here is chapter 10. I will at least try to stay on top of this story. Here you guys will find out what the pirates want with Prince Eiri.

Chapter 9: Pirates of the ottoman part 1

IMPORTANT: ZANGIEF IS ZANGIEF FROM THE STREET FIGHTER SERIES. I just made him a pirate. THIS AND THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL HAVE A SLIGHT CROSSOVER WITH STREET FIGHTER.

Warining: Blood and guts and dismemberment. (Rating may go up)

The pirates were carrying Eiri as a ship pulled up next to the ferryboat that Shuichi and the others were riding. They weren't sure what to do. They had never even seen pirates let alone went up against them. Also, the last time they had to fight Shuichi was nearly killed. It was one thing for the prince to be captured, but to be captured after having an argument weighed heavily on the teen. He and the prince had just had an argument minutes before the kidnapping. He felt like he had to do something about this, even though he had to do it alone.

"Let him go!" he shouted.

"Why should we?" said the pirate. "This lad can bring us a lot of gold."

Just then a shiver of fear entered Shuichi's mind. He never thought he would go up against pirates. In fact he was hoping that there would be no trouble today.

"W-what are you T-talking about?" he stammered.

The pirate then showed him a cage of dozens of men who were chained to the bars of the cage. They each had numbers and drawings written on them. The drawings were of copper, bronze, silver and gold coins. And each number was different. That's when the group realized that they were going to make Eiri a slave.

"Now ye have a choice lad. Give us the boy or he goes overboard." The pirate proposed. It was a tough decision, he wanted to get to Eternias but not if it meant losing the prince. He was supposed to protect Eiri at any cost. Even his freedom.

"Leave him, and take me instead. I'll do anything that you want me to. And I won't complain. Just please, don't harm the prince." He pleaded. Sakano walked onto the top deck wondering what was going on.

"Huh? What happened." He asked lazily then he saw his prince motionless in the arms of pirates. Then he knew what danger they were in.

"What should we do captain?" one of the pirates asked.

"All of ye will be servants to me crew." He said. Then the captain turned his attention to Shuichi. A lustful look in his eyes.

"You will be my personal servant. Don't ye dare disappoint me. If ya do I'll have to make you walk the bloody plank."

Shuichi nodded with fear. Then the other boys tried to stop their friend from making what they believed was a terrible mistake.

"Master shuichi!" Hiro screamed. "You don't have to be their slave. It's not worth it!"

"He's right." Sakano said. "We won't let you lose your freedom, even if it is for the king."

"It's not for the king, it's for him!" shuichi responded. Then they all realized that there was only one way to help him now.

"If you take him, you take us too!" Hiro shouted to the pirate captain. Then the captain was starting to get a few clever Ideas. Five slaves for the price of one was very rare and not an opportunity to be passed up.

* * *

THREE HOURS LATER…

The pirate ship, like the ferryboat was heading for another town just outside of eternias. All five of the men, along with dozens of other slaves were trapped inside of a life size cage. They were struggling with their rumbling stomachs and heavy eyes. But were afraid to fall asleep because of the consequences.

Eiri came to while trapped in the cage. It seemed like everything that happened earlier was all a blur. But when he realized that he wasn't on the ferryboat, he questioned the other captives.

"What's going on?" he asked. "Why are we all in this cage?"

"We've been captured by captain Zangief and he's gonna make us all slaves." The prisoner said with panic in his voice. Eiri couldn't believe it. He was about to be a slave to the pirates. And to top it all off he didn't see the others. He began to assume that they were already enslaved by Zangief and his crew. Then he thought about Shuichi. He thought about the fight they had moments before being abducted. Now he wanted to find shuichi and try to get them off of this ship.

"In any case, have any of you seen a young man around? Pink hair, rose colored kimono?" he asked.

"You mean captain Zangief's personal servant. He was let out of the cage hours ago." The captive answered.

"I imagine that your friend is serving the captain's needs right now." Another prisoner remarked. Then Eiri got a suspicious yet worried look in his eyes. He had a good Idea of what the prisoner meant by "Serving the captain's needs." But if he was going to rescue his protector, he would have to play dumb with the captives.

"Just what do you mean by 'serving the captains needs'" He asked.

"Oh, well, sometimes the captain has his intimate needs that are fulfilled by his servants"=Explained the prisoner. "I think he's going to have a good time with that little one."

Then the prince's emotions were boiling over at that point. No one was going to have their way with him not on his watch- or sun dial. (Whatever they used to tell time in that era.) It was time for him to protect his protector.

_Shuichi, I don't know where you are, but I'll find you. And I will save you._ Eiri thought.

* * *

Meanwhile, Captain Zangief was out on the deck with his newest servant. As afraid as he was, Shuichi knew that being the slave of this pirate was the only way to save his prince from a life of servitude. He only hoped that Eiri would wake up to see that he really does love him. Shuichi just finished cleaning the top deck of the boat like he was ordered. After that he did more dirty work around the ship. Mopping the bathrooms and doing zangiefs laundry, even cleaning up after the parrots that the crew had. When all of that was done, the captain then called shuichi over for some good news.

"Alright lad, ye can take the rest of the day off." He said. Then the former warrior went to relax in the cabin that he was given by the captain. He got a break but the real break that he wanted was his and his friends' freedom. He was starting to think that maybe hiro was right. Giving up his freedom was not such a great Idea after all.

And the chapter will have to end there; chapter 11 will be up in a bit, well maybe Friday or Saturday to be honest. It's hard to update when you work. Please review. Bye-bye


	11. chapter 10: Pirates of the ottoman part

Here is chapter 11 of heart of duty. Last time we left our heroes on a pirate ship becoming slaves. Shuichi ended up being captain Zangief's personal slave. Eiri awoke from his unconsciousness only to find out that he and his friends have all been turned into slaves.

Important: the last chapter and this one only will have a slight Xover with street fighter. BY THAT I MEAN THAT ONLY SOME OF THE CHARACTERS WILL BE IN THIS CHAPTER. I just got tired of making OC's that's all.

Chapter 10: Pirates of the ottoman part 2

It had already been three days since the gang was captured and put on the ottoman.

"I can help you find and save your friends." The prisoner declared. A skeptical Eiri looked at him with great suspicion. He wasn't sure if this prisoner could be trusted, not just because he was one of the captain's prisoners, but also because this so called prisoner could be one of the pirates in disguise. The alleged prisoner stood in front of the cell.

"Stand back." He said as he began to draw up some immense energy from his body. It was unlike anything Eiri had ever seen before. Sure he had special abilities too but this was unlike any power he had. It was almost as if the energy from this prisoner's body was being drawn from every part of the ship. Then after it was done, there appeared to be a giant fireball at his hands. Then he shouted this word.

"HADOUKEN!"

* * *

After that the giant fireball was shot from his hands, shattering the bars holding the prisoners back from freedom. Then after they were finally free, the blond prince questioned him. But after seeing that technique, it seemed like he got his answers.

"I know who you are." He said with a sense of confidence. "You are Ryu of lelouche, are you not?"

"Yes, I am." Ryu answered.

Ryu was well known throughout the world as a master of Hadou. Or at least that was what people referred to him as. He did not consider himself a master and would never think of himself as one until he became a true warrior. Even with his great strength and skills, he still didn't believe that he was a true warrior. Ryu was always looking for a bigger challenge. He led Eiri to where he believed that Shuichi might be. While trying to find their enslaved friend, the blond prince had some questions for the man.

"Why is someone with your skill in this prison?" Eiri asked. Then he saw the older man's expression change. He knew that he hit a nerve asking such a question.

"Well," he began with a semi-broken voice. "I was on the beach with my lover a few months ago and we were about to spend our first night together. But just as we were about to make love, a swarm of pirates show up and they try to capture him. I fought off as many of them as I could but then one of them caught me off guard and I was suddenly unconscious, the next thing I knew, I ended up on this ship. I have no Idea what happened to Ken.

Eiri's curiosity turned into light amusement. "Ken?" he taunted. "That's quite a strange name for a woman."

"When did I ever say that my lover was a woman?" Ryu criticized.

Perplex about what he just heard, Eiri began to wonder about his relationship with Shuichi. He knew that somewhere beneath their fighting they did care for each other. Hearing that a great master like Ryu of Lelouche had a male lover made it seem like maybe there was a chance for him and shuichi to be lovers as well. Maybe it wasn't so bad.

* * *

Meanwhile, the pink haired teen was scrubbing the floorboards while Zangief watched over him. When he was finally done he awaited his next order.

"Alright lad." The captain said stripping all of his clothing off of him. "This is for the laundry." He tossed all of his garments to his new servant.

"Y-Yes master." Shuichi stuttered and ran to the laundry cabin; covering his eyes with zangief's clothes. He wasn't used to seeing anyone naked. In fact, he was raised to never look at any nude bodies other than his own. Even when he saw the prince naked, he would quickly leave the rooms. Also he was very uncomfortable whenever anyone saw him naked. It was pretty clear that he had little knowledge of sex as well. He remembered the first night on the ferryboat as If it happened just that morning.

_**

* * *

**_

Flashback- one week ago

_**The rookie warrior was walking through the lower deck as he passed by Hiro and Suguru's room. At the time he still didn't know that they were lovers. He heard some strange sounds coming from the room. It sounded like someone was moaning in pain. After that the moans then turned into screams. Frightened at what might have been happening, Shuichi busted in the room only to fin a very disturbing sight. **_

"_**Hiro…Suguru?" he said. The shock from what he saw caused his face to turn beet red. He not only saw his two closest friends naked, but he saw them in bed together making love the same way normal couples do. The couple was shocked to see shuichi barging in the way he did. As quickly as he opened the door, the pink haired teen quickly shut the door and went into the room he shared with the prince. **_

'_**Is it possible that the prince and I will do that?' he thought.**_

_**While he was getting undressed he saw Eiri's bare body and appeared to be admiring his physique. But he remembered that he was never to look at any nude bodies so he swiftly turned his head away as Eiri got undressed. Then he asked the blond prince to leave the room so that he could be more comfortable while going to bed. They slept on the same bed but shuichi was far too timid to do anything that he believed would upset him.**_

_**End flashback.**_

* * *

As he walked the long distance to the Laundry cabin, he ran into two people. One of them he wasn't sure he would ever see so soon.

"Majesty!" Shuichi called. He was both shocked and overjoyed to see his prince was still in one piece. But then he looked at the other man and was beginning to get suspicious.

"Your majesty, who is this man?" he asked.

"This is master Ryu of Lelouche." Eiri answered. "He was helping me find you and the others. But it looks like you came to us." Then he went over and bonked his protector on the head.

"OW! What was that for?!" Shuichi shouted. Then the blond prince grabbed him by his shirt.

"Didn't it tell you not to do anything stupid like this ever again?! And look what you do!"

"Alright, calm down you two." Ryu said. "We should be finding the rest of your friends."

The teen then got a worried look in his eyes. "What about the master's laundry?" he asked.

Just then, Eiri took the clothes and threw them into the fire. "fuck the laundry we're leaving this ship right now!" then he grabbed Shuichi and they searched everywhere to find Hiro and Suguru and Sakano.

Okay there goes chapter 11. chapter 12 should be up in maybe a few days. Expect to see an escape attempt and the real person in charge of the ottoman. Well, see ya.


	12. chapter 11: Pirates of the ottoman 3

Chapter 11: Pirates of the ottoman part 3

Ryu unknowingly went up to hiro and suguru by himself. It wasn't until his search was halfway over that he realized that the other men were not with him. But he had to try to get out of this ship and free all of his fellow captives before they reached their final destination. Shuichi and Prince Eiri were still in the laundry room. Eiri was questioning his protector about his reckless decision to become a servant to the pirates.

"You dumb-ass!" he began. "What the hell is wrong with you?! Don't you realize that you just gave up your freedom?"

Shuichi was livid that after what they've been through, it seemed like the prince still didn't trust him. Or at least still believed that it wasn't really for him that he was fighting for.

"Your majesty, why can't you understand that I would do anything for you; I would risk anything in this world to keep you safe from harm, because I… I'm in love with you my prince." Shuichi finally confessed. The blond heir was in complete shock of what he just heard. There was no way that anyone could ever fall in love with him. Especially a man; how could this be?

"That's impossible." The prince said. "We're men; there is no way that you can love me."

His words were harsh and hard hitting. But they weren't enough to turn the teen away. Shuichi would have to find a way to convince him that his feelings were real and that he really does love him. But what could he possibly do for Eiri that would convince him that he really was serious about him.

'There is no way that this brat could possibly love me!' Eiri thought. 'We're both men. I have to get married it would never work out.' But deep down, he knew that he felt the same way. He wanted to tell him how he felt but he still had issues with trusting anyone. But at least now he knew why Shuichi sometime did the reckless things he did. But at that moment they had some friends to find and the romance would have to wait until they all escaped from the ship and got as far away from captain zangief as humanly possible.

But before they left the laundry room, the blond prince noticed a large bandage on the samurai's forehead.

"What the hell is that?!" he half shouted. Lightly stroking the teen's forehead.

"What, this?" shuichi said. "I was cleaning the master's room and while I was painting his walls I sipped off the ladder and bumped my head on the wall really hard."

Eiri removed the bandage from the rookie's forehead. He then saw a huge knot bulging out of it. The said lump was the size of a modern day 60 watt light bulb. He leaned in and gently kissed the lump.

"A man your age shouldn't have such bruises on his face." Eiri whispered.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in endenia, news of Eiri and Shuichi being captured has spread throughout the court. Lord Uesugi and Eiri's two siblings are now in a state of panic. How would the mission be fulfilled now?

"This is a catastrophe!" Shouted the king.

"I know." Agreed prince Touma. "But his highness is a very stubborn young man, I'm sure he is safe. That is more than what I can say for the warrior you chose to accompany him.

The King became increasingly bitter since hearing the terrible news and any rude remarks would be enough to send him into a state of rage.

"Touma, are you questioning my cognition?" he asked.

"I am not your majesty." He denied. "But you must know that Shuichi was just admitted into the army and he has very little training. The fact that you would send him on such a dangerous journey would surely be a bit anxious of your majesty."

"I understand your reasoning but I had no one else to send. Some of my men were already killed and others were already in eternias." The king explained. Deep down he knew that Shuichi was not ready for any mission, especially a mission as high maintenance as this one. But in these times of war, it was difficult to find anyone worthy to trust, so far he was the most likely candidate. It wasn't long after they began their journey that he began to feel guilty about sending a inexperienced samurai with his son.

He looked around in a discrete daze for about ten minutes. Then he knew what he had to do. He would regret it but it had to be done.

"Touma, I want you to go and find them, once you do bring Shuichi back here and you shall finish this journey." The king ordered.

"Understood, your majesty." He said.

Back at the pirate ship, Suguru was locked in a secluded room. He was unable to use his powers to find the others and all of his visions were blocked in that room. All that he could think about was finding the others. Then he was about to receive a vision. But he knew that he would never be able to see it. But it looked like the powers that be had something different planned. Suguru actually received the foreshadowing image.

_Vision_

_A man with a red army suit attacks the ottoman. Soon after, the pirates all cower in fear of him. He uses some sort of psycho power to completely obliterate the ship, leaving hundreds of pirates and slaves dead, others injured and Hiro, sakano and a few escaped slaves are held captive on his ship._

_End vision._

"Oh, no!" Suguru exclaimed. "I have to get out of here and warn the others." He ran out of the secluded room to find the others and inform them of his vision. There was only one problem; he had no idea where anyone was. He checked every single room for his friends but had no luck in finding them. Then as he headed for the laundry room, he saw a mysterious shadow on the wall. He looked over and there was no one around. He began to wonder if maybe the ship was haunted by the souls of dead slaves. It was a possibility.

He continued to search for everyone in hopes of getting off of this ship in one piece.

* * *

Meanwhile, Eiri and Shuichi left the laundry room and began to search for the others. On their way they were joined by a few other slaves. They were searching for Ryu. It seemed like during his time on the ship, many of the other slaves looked up to him and believed that one day he would use his hadou to free them from the person they were supposed to be sold to.

"We should split up." One of them suggested.

"Are you crazy or what, cody?" another one shouted. "If we split up they'll pick us off one by one, how will we know if you guys are okay."

"I'll signal you with my telepathy." A female suggested. "If you hear from me that means we'll be okay.

"You always did have great plans Chun-Li." The last one said.

"Splitting up isn't a bad Idea." The pink haired teen said. "I'll go with one group of slaves and you can go with another. That is if you're up for it your highness."

"I am. And one more thing. You don't have to address me formally anymore shuichi.

From now on, I want you to call me by my name." the prince said.

Shuichi was shocked to hear such a request from him. He never thought about addressing anyone of Eiri's class familiarly. He was always told that calling someone of high class by their name was disrespectful. But in this case, the blond was allowing it. What would the king think?

"As you wish…Eiri." Shuichi nodded. Eiri then took him to the side where he hoped no one else was looking. This time he didn't want to see his friend putting himself in anymore danger than he already was.

"Your majesty- I mean, Eiri, if by any chance I don't make it off of this ship alive, I want you to go to eternias and complete your duties. Don't worry about me."

"Excuse me!" Eiri exclaimed. "There is no way I am leaving you on this ship and I won't continue without you. So no matter what happens, I will find you and you will continue this journey with me." Then he leaned in and pressed his lips against the younger mans. This time their kiss was more passionate and filled more with love than pity. When the kiss broke Eiri delivered this message.

"No matter what happens, don't leave me alone."

After that, Shuichi, Cody, and Chun-Li as well as Eiri, guy and Charlie all went on to search for their friends and any fellow captives to try to escape. But what they did not know was the vision that suguru had earlier was already coming true.

Alright there was chapter 12. Or Eleven. The next one should be up on maybe Thursday or something. Well, see ya.


	13. chapter 12:pirates of the ottoman 4

Here is chapter 13 of heart of duty. I know that I haven't updated this story as often as I used to but that is only because of my poor time management. Anyway, enjoy this chapter.

Warning: none for now.

Chapter 12: Pirates of the ottoman part 4

Suguru frantically searched for his friend everywhere he could think of but there was no sign of Shuichi, Eiri, Hiro, or Sakano. He tried everything he could to locate them telepathy, Tarot cards; they all pointed him in several different directions of the ottoman. Knowing that he couldn't be everywhere at once, the Psychic used his powers to read the minds of whoever he could hopefully the minds he read were his friends. While conducting this operation, he heard the thoughts of a familiar friend.

_We need to get the hell off of this ship, as soon as we find Hiro and Suguru. _Then Suguru followed the thoughts of his missing friend, the thoughts got louder which meant that he was getting closer. He found himself in what appeared to be a washroom. In that washroom he ran into Shuichi and two unfamiliar people. He knew that someday using his newfound telepathy would pay off. He never thought that it would be in a situation like that.

"Master Shuichi!" he cried. Then he ran and hugged his pink haired companion. While still holding on to him he saw a boy with blond hair, blue eyes and was dressed in rags. Then his attention turned to a young woman with her hair wrapped in double buns and was in a torn, blue dress. He could already tell that these two were slaves on the ship but he didn't know who they were. Luckily for him they wouldn't be strangers for long.

"Where are our manners? My name is Cody." The blond said holding out his hand. He shook hands with Shuichi and Suguru. Then the woman introduced herself.

"I'm Chun-Li, one of the few living female slaves." She said. On the ottoman there are not many female slaves who survive during the voyage due to illness, suicide and murder. Some of the females jump ship for their freedom. Others die of fatal illnesses and some are killed by the captain. Chun-Li was one of the lucky servants who are surviving this journey.

It wasn't long before Suguru began to think the best and worst of what was going on.

"Master Shuichi, are you trying to free the other slaves from the ship?" he asked.

"Well, umm. Okay I am." Shuichi answered. He was trying to get the slaves off of the ship and hopefully they would get on another ferryboat to eternias. It would take a while because they would have to wait yet again. But it would probably be worth it if they were all still alive. Suguru finally revealed his vision to the warrior.

"I just saw a man on this ship. He was killing all the slaves and capturing the living ones. Hiro was one of the captured slaves." He warned.

All of them were shocked to hear about Suguru's vision. Cody and Chun-Li looked at each other. It seemed as if they new the person who would be attacking the ship at any moment. Both Shuichi and Suguru looked extremely suspicious of their behavior. They appeared to be frightened of the person that suguru saw in his vision.

"You know who I'm talking about, Don't you?" he questioned. The two turned their attention to their new companions then to each other. The fear that covered their eyes began to slowly creep all over their bodies. They did not want to look suspicious but they were terrified of the person in Suguru's vision. Plus they remained quiet.

"Who is he?" the psychic asked again. This time he sounded more serious. Cody and Chun-Li knew that they were boxed in a corner. There was no getting around it; they had to let their new friends know what was up.

"The Man in your vision is Bison. He is the real captain of the ottoman; Zangief is only the acting captain until he returns from his world voyage." The Chinese woman explained. "He has what they call psycho power. He uses it to control people's minds, destroy objects, even to kill anyone opposing him. Either you join him or die. Either way he benefits."

After hearing her explanation the group went all around the ship to free the other slaves before Bison's return. It was going to take a while but they were making good progress.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ship, the prince, Charlie and guy were looking for Ryu. They started with every room on the lower deck. Looking through those rooms turned out to be a wild goose chase but they were at least able to get other slaves off of the ottoman and onto a nearby ferryboat, well the ferryboat was across from said ship. Next they checked the top deck but little did they know was that the other group of slaves was coming down to the bottom deck and they all bumped into each other. The collision caused them all to head right back into the hall in which they first started their search. After recovering from the headache educing collision, they realized that Most of the crew was reunited. The only people left to find were Hiro and Ryu.

"You damned brat!" Eiri yelled. "Couldn't you take your band of fools somewhere else?!"

"Excuse me!?" Shuichi yelled back. " We were coming down here to find Ryu! You should have taken **your** group somewhere else!"

"I was doing that until you ran into me!" Eiri pointed out.

"No, you ran into us." The pink haired teen said. Their argument went on for about five minutes. As they fought Suguru had that "here we go again" look on his face. Not very long after that he began to have what appeared to be another seizure, or something like it. Everyone knew that another vision was coming. Guy and Cody held Suguru up as his vision processed.

_

* * *

_

Vision.

_The gang is attacked by bison's newest slave. They are all struggling to fight this new enemy because of the emotional attachment they have to him. _(The vision is cut off)

* * *

"What happened?" Cody asked. "What did you see?"

The psychic teen struggled to put all the pieces together. The vision wasn't finished yet but he was able to describe a little bit of what he saw. It was still very sketchy but he summed it up.

"I saw someone attacking us. I'm not sure where it was at, the vision is still blurry. But I think it was bison's minions. "It wasn't very long before he and the other's figured out why suguru's visions kept getting cut off whenever he was in a part of the ottoman. It was only a hunch but it was the strongest lead they had.

_It's possible that Bison's psycho power is tampering with the powers that be._ He thought. _Maybe that is why my visions were not able to get through. _

* * *

They all headed for the top deck and saw a crossing ferryboat. On the boat was the two people that they had been looking for all along. Hiro and Ryu. They rushed for the ferryboat and one by one they jumped from the ottoman to the ferry. There was a large gap between the boats and in that gap was an ocean tens of thousands of feet deep. The current was irregular because the clouds were getting darker and darker. The loud cry of thunder filled the air. Most of them managed to get to the boat but Shuichi was terrified of the jump. All of his fears surfaced as the storm grew close and the boat was floating away. What if he didn't make it? What if he fell into the ocean and drowned? What if he never saw his friends again? The others did their best to encourage him to take the leap of faith.

"its okay, Shuichi." Chun-Li said reaching her hand out. "I'll catch you."

But that did very little to ease his fear.

"Master Shuichi, you can do it!" Hiro shouted. "Just believe in yourself!"

That didn't help very much either. But when he saw that the boat was slipping further and further away, the rookie warrior finally decided to jump from the ottoman and hopefully land on the boat. He floated in the air and came down but was inches away from the boat. He slowly descended to the waters below. Chun-Li tried to catch him but it was too late. He was already down below. The entire group grieved over what appeared to be the demise of a fallen comrade. But they noticed that Eiri was gone. They looked everywhere for him but he was no where in sight.

About half an hour later, they see the blond prince on a life boat with an Unconscious Shuichi. Relief and worry entered their minds and hearts as they awaited for their friends recovery.

* * *

~one day later~

Shuichi awoke from his coma long after being given CPR. He saw that he was on the boat that was passing by the ottoman. He was wrapped in a blanket, shivering and holding that blanket for dear life. The teen looked to his right and saw that Eiri was right next to him. He looked under the blanket and saw that both of them were completely free of any clothing.

Chapter 12 end.

I know what some of you are thinking and no, they didn't do it. Not yet. Their clothes were wet and they had to dry so they had to take them off. Anyway tell me what you thought and chapter 14 should be up either tomorrow of after that or maybe Thursday. IDK. Well, bye for now.


	14. Chapter 13:sweet escape

Here is chapter 14 of Heart of duty. It's more of a filler chapter. Enjoy! Anyway, I'll be updating this story and "Mr. Cinderella" at least twice a week. I'd update daily but I do have to do a lot of editing plus I have a few other stories in other fandoms to work on. And of course after august 31, you might only see weekly updates of this story. Mr. Cinderella might be done by then if everything goes right.

Chapter 13

Sweet escape

Shuichi awoke from his coma long after being given CPR. He saw that he was on the boat that was passing by the ottoman. He was wrapped in a blanket, shivering and holding that blanket for dear life. The teen looked to his right and saw that Eiri was right next to him. He looked under the blanket and saw that both of them were completely free of any clothing. He wasn't used to being naked in front of anyone. So seeing himself and Eiri in a blanket with no clothes made him assume the worst. But he knew that there was no way Eiri would take advantage of him in his sleep after he almost drowned in the ocean. Despite being trained as a warrior, he never did master the art of swimming. But something had to be done about his appearance. He quietly snatched the blanket from under the prince's sleeping body and went to find his clothes. While walking through the lower deck he found mostly a nightly love fest between a few of his friends. He wasn't used to even talking about sex, let alone seeing it. So he looked in a laundry room and saw his and the prince's clothes still wet from when they were in the ocean. He went back to the room they were all sleeping in and saw that some of his friends were still at it. Then he went back and saw an irritated Eiri Uesugi.

* * *

"Y-your majesty-I mean Eiri; you're up early." Shuichi said. He knew that he was in a lot of trouble when he saw his lover's angry expression.

"And here I thought that you would appreciate me bringing you out of the ocean but look what happens you pull the cover off me and go wandering off somewhere." He said. They did the best that they could do to not wake anyone up with a fight. Shuichi gave an apologetic look to his prince and then soon apologized.

"I'm sorry, Eiri." He said. Then the two men went and lied back down. But they were far from asleep.

"What happened?" the pink haired boy asked. "The last thing I remembered was jumping off of that ship and then falling in the ocean. I did the best I could to make it up to the surface but I sank almost to the bottom. I couldn't breathe and everything went dark."

The blond prince then took his protector by the hand. He knew that he would have to explain the situation eventually. There was just no getting around it. Shuichi had to know the truth, even if it scared him.

"When I pulled out of the water, you weren't breathing." He said. Then he saw the Samurai's face go blank. It seemed like they both knew that he was about to die at that moment. But what saved him from a watery grave would be even more shocking to him.

"I spent eight hours trying to revive you but nothing seemed to work. It looked you really did break your promise and leave me. But something strange happened. I'm not sure what but something brought you back."

* * *

After hearing that Shuichi began to think about maybe taking things easier for a while. This was after all, the second or third time he almost got killed. If they were to run into any more trouble, it is very likely that none of them would be as lucky as they are today. It seemed like Sakano wasn't very lucky as he was never found. But the rest of them were. In fact, the thought of them getting off of the ship at all was what made it not only luck but a miracle.

"Now that you mention it…" Shuichi said thinking about how he was able to survive. "I think I know what kept me from drowning. Yeah it was you bringing me to the surface but that wasn't the only thing. I'm not really sure of it either but apparently, I think I heard a voice telling me: _you can't die. You need to live for the sake of your loved Ones. _Or something like that."

It wasn't long before Eiri began to realize that Shuichi may have been a little bit crazy. But then again he was the one who would determine that for himself. He was the one with the psychic powers after all. Well, he couldn't read minds but he did see that Shuichi really was kind of crazy.

"Sometimes I wonder why I bother with you." He said. then he moved a little closer to the teen . they were still wrapped in the blanket. They still didn't have any sign of clothing anywhere. But at that moment in time, nothing seemed to matter. It was their night.

"I don't know why I'm still hanging around you, Either." Shuichi said. Before long the men were caught in a deep, passionate liplock. The liplock soon became a tounge wrestling match. The couple fell to the floor and their passion began to ensue. As he realized how far they were taking things, Shuichi jumped up in shock.

"What's wrong?" the blond prince asked.

"This is.. uhh... this is my first time doing anything like this and I'm really scared. " he replied.

"Don't worry, I'll be gentle." Eiri said. _as gentle as I can be anyway._ After that they began to make passionate love under the bright moonlight. Hiro woke up and saw the nightly activities take place. He gloated to himself in a low voice:  
it's about time they spent a night together.

Well, it looks like the chapter is over for now. I don't know what to put here next chapter but I'll think of something. I was going to write a lemon here but I also wanted to keep it T rated. So sorry but no lemon guys. plus, I'm not that good with sex scenes. Well, see you later.


	15. Chapter 14:Final Destination

Here is chapter 15 of Heart of duty. The gang lands in Eternias but are still hundreds of miles away from the trying to find the castle, they run into a mysterious man. Suguru's vision comes true with a shocking twist.

Chapter 14: Final destination.

"Master Shuichi, wake up!" Hiro said shaking him. Much to his dismay, the rookie warrior was still asleep. Then he tried using some of his magic to wake him up. It woke him up a little but not enough for him to get out of the bed. In fact he stayed in the bed longer than he usually did. And Hiro knew why.

"Alright, I get it. You had a little bit too much fun last night. I understand." He said. Then he paced around the boat which for some reason wasn't moving anymore. He then looked and saw a sign that read in a foreign language: WELCOME TO ETERNIAS. The other slaves already parted ways with them and if that wasn't enough, the rest of the gang was already off of the boat; except him of course. But hiro continued using his reverse psychology on him. He thought maybe it would be enough to wake him up from his short slumber.

"It's okay you don't have to get up. But you do know that the boat landed on eternias oh, I don't know… FOUR HOURS AGO?!"

A surprise ridden Shuichi finally raised from his not so long sleep. He was confused about what was going on and then looked around. He knew that he may have been asleep a little bit too long. Even if it was four hours.

"Huh? What? Where are we?" he asked. Then his friends got very irritated from the reaction and had to tell them what hiro just said moments ago.

"WE'RE IN ETERNIAS YOU DUMMY!" everyone shouted. After that the equally annoyed prince harshly pulled him off of the boat. It looked like it would take some time for him and everyone else to get through to Shuichi now.

"You really are pathetic." He said. Then he noticed that the teen was fast asleep yet again. Shortly after making that discovery he made a rock levitate and lightly hit Shuichi on the head. That woke him up again.

"Ouch! What the hell was that for?!" he asked rubbing his head.

"For oversleeping. _Idiot."_ Eiri said.

"No offense, your highness, but you are partially at fault for that." Suguru said.

"Excuse me? My fault?" he asked.

"Well, you did engage if some nightly activities last night." The psychic said. That made the blonde's face turn beet red all over.

"What… we do is…none of your business!" he said turning away from them. Then he decided to flip the script.

"What about _you?_" he asked. "Weren't you and that magician going at it as long as we were?"

Now it looked like Suguru was on the spot, too. Sure the fact that Shuichi overslept irritated him but he knew that he and Hiro had sex often so he couldn't really say much. But he had to come back with something.

"At least I wake up on time!" he retaliated.

"STOP IT BOTH OF YOU!" Shuichi shouted. He had just about enough of them going back and forth. After all they got to where they were supposed to be and it was time for them to reach the castle. It looked like the journey was almost over. But they still had a long way to go. In order to get to the castle, they would first have to find it. They first got off of the boat and ended up in yet another set of woods. It seemed like a familiar setting to the group but there was something very different about this forest. It was a lot bigger and denser and from the vibes it was also more dangerous than the other forests they were in. sure they have been in the woods before but this time it was different. This time, they might not survive.

* * *

"Why do we always have to go through creepy forests?" Hiro started to rant. "Why is it that every time we get to a new town that we end up going trough another forest? I just know that we're going to get attacked again and again until one of us gets burned, poisoned, kidnapped or killed. It's only a matter of time."

"If I were you fellas, I'd listen to your friend." An unknown voice agreed. They all looked ahead and saw what appeared to be a man with long blond hair put in a ponytail wearing a torn up armor.

"These here woods are gravely dangerous. If you value your lives you will turn back as soon as possible." He demanded. None of the group knew if they could trust his word.

"Why should we?" Suguru asked. "We came this far."

The man came closer to them and told them all to sit down. Then he explained all the dangers of this forest and how he had seen and experienced it first hand. But some of the guys didn't seem to buy it.

"If you ask me this all sounds like a tall tale you came up with yourself." Eiri said. Then after that the man began to point a twig at him.

"You don't have to believe what I say but its true. There is evil here and all over this kingdom. You better leave now while you have your lives."

"The only evil here is your dirty clothes and hair." Suguru said. Then he went to walk away but was stopped by his red-haired lover. Both Hiro and shuichi were beginning to wonder if maybe he was telling the truth.

"I think we should stay here, Suguru." Hiro said. "What if K is right and we do run into more trouble?"

The psychic was shocked to hear that hiro might be taking someone else's side instead of his. This had never happened before; not even in the village they used to live in.

"You mean you actually believe his wackjob story?!" he shrieked.

"I don't know but he may be right." The red head said.

"And he may be wrong." Eiri interrupted.

* * *

After arguing about it for a while they decided to stay with K for a bit just to make sure he wasn't trying to pull wool over their eyes. As time went on, everything seemed to be in order; at least until a familiar face arrived. A face that they never thought they would see again.

"S-sakano?' Shuichi said. He sped a little closer and saw that it really was their long lost friend. But something didn't seem right about him. The pink haired warrior looked into Sakano's eyes and saw that something was different about him.

"Sakano, what's the matter?" he asked. His response was a wave of energy coming from his body blasting him clear across the forest, slamming him into a tree. After that Suguru's power's began to lose control. He knew that the only way that would happen was in the presence of Psycho power. That's when he finally figured it out. The conclusion devastated him.

"S-Sakano is… the minion from the vision…" he said.

"Evil has come:" K concluded.

CLIFFHANGER TIME! There was chapter 15. the next one should probably have them trying to bring Sakano back to normal and finding out why he turned evil. Well, review and see ya Monday!


	16. Chapter 15:Suguru's secret

Here is chapter 16 of Heart of duty. I know I said that I'd have it up on Monday but I made so many mistakes on this that I had to do the entire chapter over. Sorry. Anyway, enjoy.

Chapter 15: Suguru's secret

It was completely unbelievable. It was almost like being in a terrible dream. How can one of their own have turned to the dark side? More importantly who was responsible for such a deed? The answer appeared to be very clear judging from what the slaves on the ottoman told them. But they did not know for sure. But before they could decipher the situation, Suguru's Psychic energy was beginning to spiral out of control. It appeared that his powers had gone awry and started to destroy everything in its path. Soon the energy was spreading all over the forest and destroying countless trees, rocks and even being exposed to all of his comrades. It even managed to touch the bewitched Sakano. Thankfully the others were in a protective force field. When the whole mess was over, they noticed that Sakano was gone and Suguru was lying on the floor unconscious. Hiro quickly came to his lover's aid and did his best to heal him. He used a healing potion that seemed to work even though it took time for it to work. Everyone prayed that he would get better and that his powers would go out of control again. Some of the group could see from the expression on hiro's face that this has happened before.

* * *

When the guys finally reached the town, they found a doctor to treat their unconscious friend. This was when accusations and theories began to run wild.

"Something tells me that Bison is responsible for what happened to Suguru and why Sakano did that to us." Shuichi suggested. It seemed to all add up, not being able to find sakano before getting off of the boat, Suguru's first vision that got cut off. It had to be him.

"We don't know for sure if he is being controlled." Eiri said. He was always the type of person who believed that people changed on their own free will. But in this case he figured that mind control was a very strong possibility as well. And if anyone was strong enough to manipulate other people's psychic abilities, it was very possible that it was the captain of the ottoman.

"I wouldn't be surprised if that clown _was _hypnotized by some evil sorcerer." He said. "Sakano does have a weak mind. But that doesn't explain what happened to the kid."

Then they noticed that the red haired sorcerer was strangely quiet about the whole thing. They wondered if maybe he knew something else.

"There's something else to this isn't it?" Eiri asked. Hiro did not respond. Then he began to head for the exit when he was stopped again. Now the couple was sure that he was hiding something.

"Hiro, does Suguru have any problems with his powers that we should know about?" Shuichi asked. It was finally time for the magician to come clean about his lover's secret. He knew that it would jeopardize the psychics trust in him but this was a serious matter that could get out of hand if it wasn't resolved.

"Well, he does sometimes lose control of his powers suddenly." Hiro said. "I've seen it happen, its really scary. It was like I didn't know who he was anymore. But I don't think that transformation had anything to do with the powers that be."

Suguru finally awoke from his "nap" and heard all of his friends thinking up possible reasons for him losing control of his powers. Ever since he was a kid he would sometimes lose control of his energy and it would start destroying everything in its path.

Not to long ago, before meeting Shuichi and Yuki he experienced a similar problem, a problem that almost killed hiro.

_**

* * *

**_

Flashback-one year ago

"_**Suguru…" Hiro called. He noticed that his lover was in a state of extreme pain. He appeared to have a massive headache and strangely, his eyes started to glow an amber color. Then less than a minute later, his entire body began to glow that same color.**_

"_**Suguru, what's the matter?"Hiro asked. He began to worry that something terrible was happening to the man he loved.**_

_**A burst of energy spread throughout the field and Suguru looked normal again but something was very different about him it was like he was being controlled by another power. He approached the red-haired sorcerer and pointed his index finger at the teen. Another burst of energy impacted on hiro's torso, leaving him bloody and unconscious. He then went on a killing spree all over the village. He went all over and used his Psychic energy to eliminate anyone, innocent or otherwise. When this was all over and he returned to normal, he couldn't believe that there was so much blood all over his hands. Then he went back to the cottage that he and Hiro shared and saw his lover on the floor, dying. He knew that he was the one who did it. **_

_**The other gypsies used a curse to try to seal that evil energy from every coming back. There were many signs of this alter ego's approach, the first would be losing control of his powers, and the next was an erratic change in his behavior and finally the headache and glowing skin. Hiro was the only thing standing between him and true darkness.**_

_**End flashback.**_

* * *

"He is being manipulated." Suguru said. "I could sense another presence in his mind."

Then he had another vision.

_Vison._

_the gang is fighting the man behind Sakano's bewitching. _

And the chapter is over for now. Well, again I'm sorry I didn't have this up sooner but I had to do it over. Chapter 17 should be up soon. Anyway bye.


	17. chapter 16:Suguru moves on

Since class is over I thought I'd post this before going to work. Here is chapter 17 of heart of duty. If you paid any attention to the last couple of chapters' you know that the gang has reached their destination. Sort of. And most o this chapter will have to do with Suguru and Hiro.

Chapter 16: Suguru moves on

It had been about a week since the incident with Suguru's powers losing control. He became increasingly more possessed by this dark energy inside of him. He began to get more distant from all of his friends and when he was by himself, it seemed as if he was plotting something but the others didn't exactly know what it was. They tried to find out but to no avail. They tried spying on him but always got caught. They tried to see if there was anything he would tell them about his new powers that he got recently but he has been very secluded from the world so it was impossible to even see Suguru let alone talk to him.

One day the psychic boy was in his room writing a letter. He seemed like he wasn't going to stay with the group anymore considering he knew that this dark energy would be released any day now, he knew that the best thing for him to do was to spare them the suffering and deal with this problem on his own.

He wrote and he wrote until he was finally finished he then read it hoping it gave enough clarity.

_

* * *

_

Dear friends,

_It hurts me to do this but I'm afraid that if I stay with you any longer, you will all be in danger. So I must protect you by leaving. Forgive me but it must be done I cannot bear the thought of putting you in harms way. Do not attempt to look for me for I do not want to be found. _

_Farewell my friends._

* * *

Then after that he slipped the letter in Hiro's room and gathered all of his belongings. He took one last look at the hotel that he and his former comrades stayed. Then after that he began to walk from the inn. Not looking back a second time. It was painful for him to do but deep down he knew that he was doing the right thing. It made no sense for his friends to get hurt because of that thing inside of him.

The next day Hiro woke up and realized that his lover was not next to him. That of course did not surprise him since it had been day s since the couple slept in the same room however things changed when he found the not e beside the door. He couldn't believe what he was reading. He was devastated to find out that the man he loved has left.

He quietly snuck out of the hotel in hopes of finding his Suguru. He knew that somehow suguru hadn't gone too far. All he had to do was search the town and the forests and maybe he would find him. When he was going all over the town he ran into his newest companion, K. Surprised and suspicious, Hiro questioned the former soldier.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked. Then K gave him a similar suspicious look.

"I should be asking you the same question." He remarked. "why are you running around town all by yourself?"

He knew he was busted and there wasn't very much that he could do about it. The best thing he could do was explain the situation and move on.

"I found this by my room door." Hiro said handing the letter to K. the former soldier read it and saw that Suguru had left the group because of what he told the others.

"So this is why you snuck out of the house." The blond man confirmed then he saw the distraught look on the magicians face. He could tell that this was something that he wasn't used to. Having someone he loved lose control of his powers and then leave him. It seemed as if it were too much to bear.

"I can help you find him and I can get him some help." He resolved.

"Why should I trust you?" Hiro asked. "How do I know you won't lead me into an ambush?"

Then without fail K told him the golden reason that he was the only person that Hiro could trust for such a delicate mission.

"I know this Kingdom a lot better and I know where your friend may be. If I'm right, then Suguru must be trying to fix that problem with his powers right?"

"Well, Yeah." Hiro agreed. Then after that they searched the town for their missing friend but there was no sign of him. They then went to a little hut just outside of the town to see if Suguru may have stopped there.

"Greetings, young heroes." A shaman said after the men entered. They weren't' about to waist anymore time, it was time for them to find their friend they were as polite as possible asking the shaman about Suguru's whereabouts.

"Excuse us, have you seen a young boy around her?" K asked. "About this high, has black hair. I believe he wears a black and red tunic."

"Alas my friends, I have not." The shaman said. Then he stood up walking towards the two men. It looked like they were in deep trouble at that moment.

"And I fear that you will not be seeing him either." He said then he removed his mask and revealed bright glowing blue eyes. HIro and K both screamed before being turned into statures.

* * *

Back at the hotel Shuichi and Eiri had just woken up from well, about six hours of sleeping. They looked around the inn and noticed that none of their friends were anywhere in sight. They searched the whole inn and then went out to the town to find them but they were nowhere to be found.

"Found them yet?" Eiri asked.

"No." Shuichi said. "I can't believe that they would just disappear."

But prior to their search, EIri saw that Suguru had packed all of his things and left, but hiro hand K never took anything, plus Hiro left his wand. He never ever left his wand.

"I don't think they just disappeared." Eiri concluded

"What do you mean?" the warrior asked.

"I think they may have been kidnapped." .the prince said.

Alright another short chapter concluded with a ciffie. Whoo. Oh well, anyway chapter 18 should be up soon. See ya.


	18. chapter 17:that vision thing

Here is chapter 18 of Heart of duty. Expect to see quite a few surprises here.

Chapter 17: That vision thing

Back at the hotel Shuichi and Eiri had just woken up from well, about six hours of sleeping. They looked around the inn and noticed that none of their friends were anywhere in sight. They searched the whole inn and then went out to the town to find them but they were nowhere to be found.

"Found them yet?" Eiri asked.

"No." Shuichi said. "I can't believe that they would just disappear."

But prior to their search, EIri saw that Suguru had packed all of his things and left, but hiro hand K never took anything, plus Hiro left his wand. He never ever left his wand.

"I don't think they just disappeared." Eiri concluded

"What do you mean?" the warrior asked.

"I think they may have been kidnapped." .the prince said.

* * *

Shuichi just couldn't believe that, there was no way that his friends could have allowed themselves to be captured so easily. Especially K, after all, K was a former Shinobi. How could _he _be captured? They both agreed that Suguru left the group considering everything he owned was gone but everything Hiro and K had was still at the hotel. The samurai had a different theory.

"I'm thinking that Hiro went to convince Suguru not to leave. And maybe K went with him for back up."

But the prince wasn't buying for a minute, sure his protector's first theory may have been right but the part about K just didn't add up for him. That man was a rogue Ninja after all. Who knows, he could have set a trap for their friend.

"If K has anything to do with this then I know He was kidnapped."Eiri thought. He never did trust the former soldier. And there were even locals saying that he was a traitor to Eternias. It wouldn't be surprising if he did betray them. But somehow Shuichi didn't believe that K was at fault. And if he was it wasn't intentional.

"Even if they did end up in an ambush, I don't think K is smart enough to plan one that elaborate."

"Don't tell me you actually trust that traitor!" the blond snapped.

"I never said that I trusted him, I just don't think that he would do anything like that." Shuichi said. But then Eiri realized that there was something very wrong with his lover. Sure they often got into their lover's quarrels but something about the rookie's eyes was very different. Sure they were still purple but they glow an ominous blue color when he was defending K. Being the genius at magic he was, he knew that the pink haired boy's eyes never glowed blue.

"You're not Shuichi, are you?" he concluded. When he saw the other Shuichi coming out of a nearby house, which was when he knew that one of them was definitely an imposter. When he saw the "Shuichi" next to him levitating, it spoke for itself. The teen had no experience with magic what so ever.

"It looks you won't be finding your friends anytime soon." The imposter said. Then he started to make what appeared to be a storm of fire that rained all over the small town. The fire rained down so hard that it began to burn all over the city. Luckily, the duo managed to escape from the wrath of the imposter and went into the only place that wasn't burned to a crisp. Unbeknownst to them, it was the same shaman hut that K and Hiro were turned into stone. They went into the hut and saw what appeared to be two familiar looking statues. At first they thought it was just decorations but when they saw the faces, that was when they knew that Hiro and K were somehow turned to stone and that it was very possible that the Shuichi imposter had something to do with it. It didn't take long for the pink haired teen to get extremely emotional.

"How…can they do this…?" Shuichi said. He couldn't help but start to tear up and start to reach for the statue. He wasn't an expert on magic, but he did know that once someone was turned into statue, there were no more signs of life. In other words, many people who get turned to stone died.

"I just…can't believe it. Who would do something like this?" Shuichi said still in shock. But he in a way knew that it could have been the imposter who turned them into their current form. The way everything was going outside of the hut, that was a possibility. Then Eiri felt a strong aura surrounding them coming from Hiro's stone body. Sure in some cases being turned into a statue meant that it was a done deal but something was different somehow.

"I don't think that they're dead, at least not yet." Eiri said. "I still feel their spirits in here, so somehow they're still alive. Maybe we can turn them back to normal."

"and How are we supposed to do that?" Shucihi asked. "we don't know magic, and the only person who does is a rock!"

"I know someone who can help." He said.

* * *

THE LOWER LEVEL OF THE HUT

Suguru was meditatiing in hopes of keeping his psychic energy in tact. The unique thing about his powers were that they were also drawn from emotion. Sometimes the angrier or more frightened he got, the stronger his powers became. That was why he had to meditate every day to keep control of it all. Also, the Visions would often play a role in his control. He could control his telepathy but not his visions. He knew that the powers that be wouldn't let him take a vacation from his visions any time soon. In fact he was now having more than one vision a day. And during his meditation, he had yet another one.

_

* * *

_

vision

_Hiro, K Shuichi and Eiri have all been turned into stone. A shaman has Impersonated Shuichi and was attacking the village and ready to storm the casltle with an army of demons._

_end vision._

* * *

"Oh, No, " He shouted. Suguru dropped everything he was doing and rushed upstairs and tried to stop the shaman but he was no where to be found. Instead he found his friends turned to stone. His worst nightmare came true and there was no way to end it. but then he noticed something else, their eyes were blinking. And statues don't blink, that's right all of them were human covered in gray paint. Even Hiro and K. Relieved but angry he struck Hiro and Shuichi.

"What the hell were you guys thinking?!" he shouted. "Don't you know how worried I was about you guys?!" then he and Hiro got into an embrace. But as they hugged. Suguru's eyes glowed an amber red and he appeared to be holding a machete to his lover's back. K saw this and quickly pulled Hiro away from the psychic. It appeared that his transformation had just begun But it looked like he got it back under control. he told the others about the shaman attack only to find out that it was already taken care of.

* * *

days passed and they were Nearly at the castle but something wasn't sitting right with Suguru and it wasn't just his powers this time. Over the days he noticed that K had been getting close to Hiro and he wasn't happy about it. Like Eiri he never trusted K, but he now had a new reason why.

And there was chapter 17(18) the next one should be up next week or so. I'm not entirely sure. Just expect the shaman to come back causing more trouble than before, and some more of Suguru's newfound Jealousy.


	19. Chapter 18:last night in the woods

* * *

Hear is chapter 19 of heart of duty. I know that my grammar may not be perfect; nobody's perfect really but well, sometimes the site does things that I do not like. Like add stuff I don't want or ignore the corrections I make. fails sometimes. God wave3436 was right. Anyway, I'm kind of at the halfway point of the story if some of you can't tell. Enjoy this chapter

Warning: lots of flashbacks, Nudity.

Chapter 18: Last night in the woods

"Night fall already?" Hiro asked. He then looked at the sky and saw that the sun was setting a bit earlier than they were used to. It may not have occurred to the others but it was getting very close to winter and as most of them knew, when winter came the nights came earlier. Plus as K told them a while back, many Rogue ninja roam the forests at night as well as monsters, demons and other dangerous creatures like at the very near of the castle he warned them of a dragon.

_

* * *

_

Flashback

_While at the hotel, the men were sitting on the floor while K was telling them one of his wild stories about going face to face against a dragon that he often fought at the Eternian castle._

_"And there it was standing fierce and tall as ever, Teeth as yeller as a dogs belly. I swung my sword at it with all my might, throwing Shuriken by the dozen and yet not one of my sharp weapons was strong enough to pierce the lizard's heart. I fought that beast on several occasions each time getting closer and closer to victory but never got close to slaying old yeller-teeth. I've seen many of my fellow warriors get burned to crisp by the beast. In fact, many who have tried to slay him have been fried."_

_Hiro and Shuichi applauded the former soldier for his entertaining story. But Suguru was very skeptical about his story. Of course he never trusted K from when they met him in the currently destroyed forest. Plus, based on what other villagers knew his reputation as a traitor to their land, he thought that maybe K would betray them, too. _

_"There is no way that you could have taken on a dragon!" Suguru said angrily. "I don't even think there's a dragon here!"_

_K then showed Suguru what appeared to be a dragon's fang. Hopefully he thought that would be proof enough for his new companion. The psychic however wasn't buying it._

_"I bet you made that yourself!" he said. Then he reached for the fang and swiftly pulled it from the former soldier. What he felt surprised him. It turned out that the fang was real._

_'It is real.' Suguru thought to himself. Then he looked back at the man. "so, how come you don't have any wounds?" he asked._

_"Actually I do." K said then he removes any hint of clothing exposes countless scars all over his body, and something else that the others didn't need to see. Despite being in relationships with other men, there was a place and time for everything and that was neither the place nor time to strip down._

_End flashback._

* * *

The group arranged what could have been one last night in the woods before heading into the castle After all they had been through, it looked like they're journey had come to an end. But was it really the end of their Journey? Only time and fate would tell.

"Hey, Hiro…" Suguru began.

"Yeah?" Hiro said.

At first, Suguru didn't know how to explain his feelings to his lover. Ever since K started traveling together it seemed like they were getting closer and closer. Sometimes, he wondered if maybe K was going trying to steal his love from him.

"I just want to know, what's going to happen to us when all of this is over? You said you would marry me but it's just that…well, I'm not sure about that now." He said.

"And why not?" Hiro asked. This was the part where suguru would end up in a corner and blurt out his feelings under pressure. They both knew what was coming the only question was when would he crack? The answer was pretty obvious. As long as they have known each other, Suguru never failed to have his word vomit come out.

"It's because I don't want you leaving me for that traitor!"He shouted out unintentionally. Hiro was suddenly surprised by what the psychic just blurted out. For once even he didn't see it coming.

"Is that what this is about?" Hiro asked. "You're jealous of K?"

"I am NOT!" Suguru denied. Then he lay back down and forcefully closed his eyes. It seemed like he would never admit that he doesn't want K coming between them.

"Sometimes I just don't get Him…" Hiro said to himself. And then he lay down as well and slowly went to sleep.

_The nerve of him! _He thought._ Thinking I'm jealous of that…idiot!_

* * *

Then in the other tent, Shuichi and Eiri started to reflect on everything that they have been through in the past almost year. Neither of them thought it was possible for them to even like each other let alone fall for each other but one mystery was still unsolved. It was obvious how much Shuichi was madly in love with EIri but how did _he _feel about Shuichi?

"Well, what do you know?" Eiri started. "it looks like this might be the last time we see each other."

Shuichi wasn't sure what to say. All he could think about was how everything that they have been through ever since the day they first met. it seemed like they both had changed so much since that day.

**_Flashback-11 months ago. (chapter 2)_**

**_It is a honor to travel with you, prince Eiri." He greeted._**

**_"State your name young man." The king ordered._**

**_"My name is Shuichi." He said._**

**_Ah, little help?" he asked and one of the other guards helped him straighten his back. Everyone in the room, especially the prince was beginning to have second thoughts about having Shuichi be his protector._**

**_"Father, you cannot be serious about letting him be my protector." Protested Eiri rolling his eyes. "Look at him, he's pathetic." Those words made the pink haired rookie fume with rage for he was very sensitive when it came to words. But he knew not to speak out of turn in front of the king. Everyone knew that rule. _**

**_"I can't believe that I have to go and do this damn marriage." The prince complained. Then he glared at his two companions. "Of all the people that I could travel with, it had to be a joker and a coward. Magnificent."_**

**_"Who are you calling a coward!?" Shuichi shouted._**

**_"I call them as I see them." Eiri said rudely._**

**_The two of them kept quarreling until they were an eighth of the way there and then when the finally stopped arguing, there was some much needed peace and quiet._**

**_End flashback._**

* * *

"I can't believe how brave I've gotten since I met you." Shuichi said. "I mean, Just before all of this started I was afraid of my own shadow. I guess what made me so brave was that I had someone to protect." He then turns to his prince and wipes his eyes. The last thing he wanted the man to see was his tears. But much to his disappointment, he ended up seeing Shuichi cry anyway.

"I see how strong you've gotten." He said.

**_Flashback 11 months two weeks ago (Chapters 2&3)_**

**_After a few hours of walking in the woods they all decided to take a break and have something to eat before starting on the road again. However, their lunch hour was interrupted by an arrow shot hitting the cherry blossom tree they were sitting under. The group looks up and sees what appears to be a group of bandits. The bandits jump down from the far away trees and run toward their food and then Shuichi and Sakano tackle them in an attempt to protect the prince and their food. One of the bandits pushed Shuichi off of him and he fell to ground. Then another bandit shot an arrow at the prince which luckily missed him. Then another bandit ran towards him and began to beat him down. Shuichi pushed the bandit off of him and then rose and drew his sword and then the bandit pulled out a bigger sword. And when that happened the rookie warrior ran to a nearby tree and hid around it. The other bandits attempted to capture Eiri who, along with Sakano was fighting them off._**

**_Shuichi, trying to fulfill his mission from the king runs after the bandits and draws his sword and despite his fear of fighting, he does fight them off and protect the arrogant prince. As the struggle goes on they continued to lunge at each other with excessive force. Ending the struggle the tree that Shuichi was hiding behind fell on top of all the bandits._**

**_When the fight was over, the group headed back on the road to eternias, they began to have second thoughts about going on this journey, or at least taking the path on foot._**

**_"I have to admit for a coward he is pretty strong." Prince Eiri thought. But then with things slowly getting back to normal, the bickering would start back up again._**

**_"Not bad, for a pansy."Eiri remarked._**

**_"A pansy that just saved your life." Shuichi replied. They continued walking going on like this on foot until night fell and they had to make a decision, keep walking or camp for the night._**

**_"its too dark to keep walking. we should camp here for tonight." suggested Sakano._**

**_"No way! we should keep moving. What if we get attacked again?" the others shouted. finally agreeing on something for once._**

**_Shuichi began to feel as if he had to do something but he was afraid of getting killed by the bandits. But he couldn't just stand there and let them get beaten. So he pulled sakano aside and came up with a plan to distract the thieves while saving the boys. Once the plan was set it was time to put it in action._**

**_What are those brats up to?_****_ Thought the blond. He wondered what the heck those tow could possibly plan. After all they were only capable of flipping out and arguing right? Well, boy was he in for a surprise._**

**_

* * *

_**

**_Sakano led the boys away from the bandits with what looked some of the leftover food that they ate the other night. The two boys ran after sakano with the food. Then the bandits were being distracted by shuichi's swordplay, or lack of swordplay. They watched as he tried to impress them with his skills and he was less than impressive to them. When the bandits' attention got diverted from the rookie, they noticed that the two boys that they were beating up were with Eiri and sakano. Before they could do any damage to the others they were stopped by the sudden dropping of their tunics, Exposing parts of their bodies that were not meant to be seen by anyone but their mothers._**

**_The men decided to find an inn to stay in while they were in the village but on the way there the usual antics continued._**

**_"I must admit, you have some brains, some,"_**

**_"Are you calling me stupid?"_**

**_"Well, you're haven't shown the most smarts out of all of us."_**

**_"really? I'm stupid? At least I saved those boys. You didn't do a damn thing."_**

**_End flashback_**

* * *

"Boy did we fight a lot back then." Shuichi said.

"That's because you always started it." Eiri remarked.

"I did not!" the pink haired teen shouted. "you were always teasing _me!_"

"Really, was I?" Eiri asked as they lost their balance and fell on their sleeping bags.

"Then again, we have had our good times too."

_

* * *

_

Flashback…

"What made you wanna go out today, your highness?" Shuichi asked.

"I just thought maybe I'd get out today, without being attacked by bandits." He answered. then he questioned his companion.

"Why did you come with me? Don't you think I can take care of myself?"

Shuichi nodded his head then moved a little closer to the blond symbol of royalty.

"I know you're strong but I want to be here for you if you need help."

"So I'm helpless?"

"Uhh…uhh…no. of course not… I didn't say that!" he denied. Then he blushed slightly as the blond prince shot him a mean glare.

_End flashback…again._

* * *

now they were just getting ready to make love for what might be the last time. Both were stripped of any fabric and in each other's arms.

"Eiri, can you promise me one thing? No matter what happens, I don't want you to forget me." Shuichi said.

"Only if you do the same, brat." He replied. Normally hearing the word "Brat" would cause the romance to end. But something seemed different. Since it could the last time they all see each other, nothing else mattered. All they could remember now was how close this adventure got them.

* * *

Final flashback

From now on, I want you to call me by my name." the prince said.

Shuichi was shocked to hear such a request from him. He never thought about addressing anyone of Eiri's class familiarly. He was always told that calling someone of high class by their name was disrespectful. But in this case, the blond was allowing it. What would the king think?

"As you wish…Eiri." Shuichi nodded. Eiri then took him to the side where he hoped no one else was looking. This time he didn't want to see his friend putting himself in anymore danger than he already was.

"Your majesty- I mean, Eiri, if by any chance I don't make it off of this ship alive, I want you to go to eternias and complete your duties. Don't worry about me."

"Excuse me!" Eiri exclaimed. "There is no way I am leaving you on this ship and I won't continue without you. So no matter what happens, I will find you and you will continue this journey with me." Then he leaned in and pressed his lips against the younger mans. This time their kiss was more passionate and filled more with love than pity. When the kiss broke Eiri delivered this message.

"Sometimes I wonder why I bother with you." He said. then he moved a little closer to the teen . they were still wrapped in the blanket. They still didn't have any sign of clothing anywhere. But at that moment in time, nothing seemed to matter. It was their night.

End last flashback.

* * *

Now things were getting almost twice as intense as the other night when they were on the ferryboat. Under the crescent moonlight they shared another romantic night.

Okay, I know that that chapter was overloaded with flashbacks but that was because I wanted to show the development over the entire story. I hope it worked. Anyway chapter 20 will be up soon and in case anyone forgot to read the top the story is only HALFWAY DONE! See you soon


	20. Chapter 19:I'm not leaving you yet

Here is chapter 20 of Heart of Duty. My advice to all new readers is very friendly and Simple, Please Read all the earlier chapters in this story before you think about Reviewing. Nothing irritates me more than people who don't read the whole story before leaving feedback, especially if the story was complete for a certain amount of time.

Chapter summary (Sure has been a while since I've done this): the gang finally reaches the castle but as they prepare to go in, they discover that Eiri does not want to go. Shuichi isn't fond of the going back home either.

Warning: Mild Eechi (possible rating elevation)

I don't own gravitation.

Chapter 19: I won't leave him!

* * *

Shuichi and Yuki were lying down on the sleeping bags still awake after a few hours of some late night activities. They seemed to be exhausted from their latest actions. But somehow just couldn't sleep. But then of course a few things were keeping them awake. The rustling in the bushes from where strange creatures, thieves and Rogue shinobi were passing by; The loud and cold wind from the cold weather that took place and a certain Warrior's antics that would make him have a night he wouldn't forget any time soon.

Shuichi, focused on the moment instead of what lied ahead the next day raised from the sleeping bag and started to gently kiss the older man. At first it seemed innocent enough, just two men who loved each other kissing but then Shuichi did something that he would soon end up regretting. When they broke the kiss he then began to softly press his lips onto his cheek then moving to the heir's ear. What he didn't know was that his ear was extremely sensitive and doing anything to it would get a less than pleasing reaction.

"Ah! What the hell are you doing you damn brat?!" Eiri snapped. Shuichi saw the look in his eyes and started to fear for the worst. He lifted himself off of the prince slightly and gave the best apology he could. Hopefully Eiri wasn't too mad at him.

"I'm sorry." He said. "I didn't know your ear was so sensitive." But judging from the look on his face, he knew that his apology either wasn't good enough or was completely ignored. Either way he was in for something he wouldn't want.

"Naughty boys need to be punished." He said with a lustful tone in his voice. In a way, Shuichi knew what was coming but was afraid that if he said anything his impending "Punishment" would get worse. But out of spite he spat back at his lover.

"You perv- *covers mouth*" Now he really was going to have a worse punishment. He saw that Eiri was in a state of pure lust and was ready to violently teach him a lesson.

"So now I'm a pervert?" he asked.

"Wait a minute… I-I didn't mean that!" Shuichi shouted.

"I'll show you how much of a pervert I can be." Yuki said as they fell to the sleeping bag again. The teen flailed and tried to fight off what was coming to him.

"Wait…EIri don't! I was kidding- No…not there…OW! EIRI, STOP! IT HURTS!"

The rest of the night went on with Shuichi receiving his "Punishment" for insulting the prince.

* * *

THE NEXT DAY

Everyone else was awake and ready to head out of the woods for what would be the very last time. After all, Shuichi's mission was about to be fulfilled today. There was only one problem though; he was completely worn out from the other night. Being the expert on waking people up, K took a bucket of water he found by the river and poured the freezing water all over the boy. It woke him up, barely.

"Morning, sleepy head!" K greeted. He saw that Shuichi was hardly able to get up after that night. Hiro and Suguru of course knew what was up. So did K.

"Had a rough night?" he asked glaring at Eiri. The former solder was a lot of things but stupid wasn't one of them, after all he always knew something somehow. He may not have been psychic like Suguru but he had strong intuition. That was more than enough to let him know what was going on with everyone. And in this case, well, he didn't really need intuition that much. The lack of sleep he had was proof enough that he was right.

"He can barely move, what do you think?" Suguru remarked. He knew how it felt two. Sometimes Hiro got that rough with him, too. He would often lose sleep from the pain just like Shuichi.

"Could you do me a favor and keep it down! I need my beauty sleep you know." He said. Hiro chuckled as he heard that, causing the psychic to walk ahead of him. He still couldn't believe that Suguru was jealous of K. Sure they became close friends but that was as far as it went. At least, that's how Hiro saw it.

_I still can't believe Suguru's jealous._ He thought. "There's nothing going on between me and K."

When they reached the stairs that would lead to their real final destination, things were very quiet to say the least. It seemed like bonds that were made a year past were about to be broken. The worst part about possibly splitting up was that they had made such strong ties with each other. Through all the bandits, exploding buildings, demons, assassins, pirates and evil shaman, it was really about to be over.

After nearly two hours of climbing the stairs of fate. They reached the castle doors. All five men took a brief moment of silence when they saw that door. Once it was opened they might have had to say goodbye.

"Well, Master Shuichi. It looks like you finally completed your mission." Hiro said. "So when the prince goes in you can go home."

"Y-Yeah, whoop-dee-doo!" Shuichi said sarcastically. He hardly looked at anyone now.

"But master," Suguru began. "Don't you miss being in your old Kingdom?"

"Maybe," he said. "But I'm not going back. Not now, not ever." It seemed like all of the boy's emotions were starting to take hold of his judgment. But he wasn't the only one not willing to let it all go.

"Well, you're here now. Better go and marry that princess." K said blatantly. "It was great knowing you, your highness." Then he turned to see that the prince walking back down the steps. It was bad enough that the two men who grew to love each other had to be apart but what the former soldier said may have added to their reluctance. Naturally, Shuichi went after the older man and tried to convince him that things won't change between them. He went back down the stairs until they were halfway down the entire flight of stairs.

"Now you did it, K!" Suguru shouted. It was bad enought that his friend was about to lose his love but what K said just might have sent them both over the edge.

"What, I didn't mean anything by it." K said defensively.

* * *

"Eiri, Eiri stop!" he pleaded. He then took the blond man by the shoulders only for him to be pushed away.

"I don't want to hear anything you have to say!" Eiri shouted. He then saw his protector right behind him.

"Eiri, I know that you don't want to go." He said. "I don't want you to go either, and I don't want to go back to edenia but it is what your father said and well, we can't argue with your father."

"I wish we could, though." Eiri said. He knew that because his father had all the power in the kingdom, he couldn't really say much to him. Well, he did but often got scolded by the old man. He remembered always being told off by lord Uesugi on numerous occasions. But now Shuichi had to go back to the kingdom and end up traveling with another prince. But the prince was not about to let that happen.

"I want you to know that no matter what happens that I'll always love you." Shuichi said. Then he leaned forward and pressed his lips against Eiri's. He wanted to believe that nothing changed between them and that they would always be together but wasn't sure about how things would pan out for his lover.

Then Eiri suddenly pulled away from the teen. "I know you're lying." He said. "The second I go in that castle, I'll have to marry that princess and well…we can't …be together anymore."

"Well, can't you just tell her that you can't marry her?" Shuichi asked.

"I wish it were that easy." Eiri said. He knew that saying no would result in a deadly war. But was a war worth being with someone he truly loved? To him it was. But what about the king of Eternias what would he say about him loving someone else?

_I should get this over with. _Eiri thought. _But for some reason I don't want to leave this brat. Is this supposed to be love? Dammit! It's not fair! I should be glad to be rid of this brat but I can't just let him go back._

All shuichi could do was look at his distraught prince. He thought about having to go back and realized that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Eiri. It didn't matter what happened anymore. All that mattered was that he was in love and he now had to let the man he loved go. But then he saw Eiri go back up the stairs. He followed to say his final goodbyes to him. Just before the castle doors opened. Shuichi said something that shocked everyone.

"I'm going in with you." Shuichi said. He took the blond man by his hand. "I'm not leaving you just yet."

A/n: yeah that was chapter 19. I gotta go right now to my orientation. Anyway you guys know the drill, new chapter next week, review see you when I see you.


	21. Chapter 20: Trust

A new chapter awaits everyone. That's right it's chapter 21. I know that it has been a while since I've updated but the wait is over everyone.

I don't own gravitation.

Chapter 20: Trust

"Halt, Who Dares to enter Lord Usami's castle?" A gatekeeper asked. He was the one who guarded the entrance to the most sacred building in the Kingdom, The Kings castle. When he saw the five men in their not so formal wear, they appeared to look like Commoners. He at first was very suspicious of the other four. Especially when he saw K with them. It looked like they were going to have a fight waiting for them. Hoping to avoid a fight, Hiro cleared the air.

"We are a group of travelers who have accompanied the prince on his long Journey hear." He explained. The gatekeeper took a good, hard look at Eiri. Then he turned his attention to Shuichi and Suguru. Some of his suspicion died down.

"You three may pass." He said pointing to Shuichi, Eiri and Hiro. But as those three went in and waited by the entrance, they saw that Suguru and K were being harshly interrogated by the guard.

"What is the meaning of bringing this traitor with you?!" He asked Suguru. The psychic did his best to defend himself verbally.

"I'm with them, He's just some guy that was showing us here and now his job is done so, See you around." He said Running into the castle. The guard tried to catch Suguru only to be locked out by the four men. Not surprisingly K was locked out too. The group didn't have time to get him in because they had to get away from the gate Keeper.

* * *

What They all knew about K was that he was once a soldier for the kingdom, what he didn't tell them was that when the war began he was looked at as a traitor for aligning himself with a soldier from another land. Because of that he was exiled from the castle and was on the run for months.

_**Flashback- One year ago**_

_**K and a few other soldiers were in the throne room, they seemed that some of the soldiers had done something not only wrong but extremely illegal to the point where they would end up getting banished from the castle or put to death. Lord Usami, sitting on his throne and giving his punishment to a certain blond warrior who unwittingly broke the law.**_

"_**K, how dare you make an alliance with an Edeninan warrior? You know that Edenia is our enemy and that they have every intention of destroying us. And yet you make an alliance with him. You are a traitor to our land and are hearby sentenced to death!" he said. **_

_**When this was said, He looked around and then saw that the young man was gone. The other guards searched all over the castle for him but he was nowhere to be found. Then a few more of his men searched the kingdom of eternias, they searched every single square inch of the town but he was nowhere in sight.**_

_**K was already out of the kingdom and hiding in a cabin in a forest just outside of Eternias. He hadn't been seen since.**_

_**End flashback.**_

* * *

While going through the castle, the four men were pretty silent throughout the tour. Eiri was beginning to wonder what the heck Shuichi was up to when he decided to come with him. He was happy that the teen decided not to leave but there had to be an agenda behind it all. The only question was what was the agenda?

They finally got to the grand hall where they were greeted by the king's advisor. The vibe that everyone was getting from him wasn't a very pleasant one but then again, they didn't choose him to be their advisor.

"Welcome travelers." He greeted. "Your rooms will be fixed up shortly but while you wait there is a feast awaiting you all. Other than that, I'll have my tour guide, Noriko will show you all around the castle." He said.

While on the tour of the castle, The men were pretty taken in by the scenery of the whole castle. Especially Shuichi, Hiro and Suguru, since they grew up as commoners most of their lives, they never did go around a whole , Shuichi was in Eiri's castle but only because he was a warrior. He was rarely ever in the throne room until Just one year past. And the rest was history.

"I Don't know what you're up to, but whatever it is you better spill it right now!" EIri whispered suspiciously.

"Your majesty- I mean EIri, I think we should tell the king about us." Shuichi whispered. Sure they wanted the kingdom to know about their relationship but at the same time, how the king would react was something they had to consider; especially since they faced a war.

"We should wait." Eiri said. "You know what will happen if we let that out now."

Shuichi new the threat of a war but for some odd reason all he could think about was being with the man he loved. He wasn't about to give up the one thing in his life that he treasured. The whole tour continued with them admiring the Eternian castle and of course arguing about whether or not to let their relationship be known.

"Lord Usami will find out one way or another, so why not Just let him know now?" The teen protested.

* * *

OUTSIDE THE CASTLE

K was desperately trying to get in the castle with his comrades. He never thought that Suguru would go as far as to lock him out of the castle. He searched for a way to get into the castle. It wouldn't be such a big deal to him if there wasn't danger approaching the king, His people and or course our heroes.

A ship was approaching with a man with a red suit on. This was no ordinary ship, It was the same ship that Shuichi and the gang Jumped off of sometime ago.

Chapter 21 end

Next: A mentioned enemy appears


	22. Chapter 21:Return of the ottoman part 1

Here is chapter 22 everyone. I'm going to make up for that last chapter; it didn't turn out the way I wanted so I'm going to make up for that today. Since I did two updates today, don't expect any for the next couple of days. Shuichi and the gang meet the princess and get involved with some familiar enemies.

Remember that Slight crossover with street fighter about 10 chapters ago; well guess what, its baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Warning: Yaoi, mild sexual content.

Gravitation belongs to Maki Murakami.

Chapter 21: Return of the ottoman Part 1

The ottoman was slowly approaching eternias. In the front of the ship was some of what seemed like a few assassins. A couple of pirates but not just any old pirates, These were the same pirates that Shuichi and his friends dealt with before. And their captain wasn't far behind. He was right next to one of the assassins. Yes this was no other than M. Bison himself. And another familiar face was shown as well, their old friend Sakano, Who was under Bison's psycho power. His hold over the jester only got stronger over the months he had had him as his prisoner.

"The time has come…" Bison began. "Before long this kingdom will be ours!" Then the Captain let out a maniacal evil laugh. It wouldn't be long before their hostile takeover began.

Back at the palace, everyone was relaxing in their rooms after the tour. Shuichi, Hiro and Suguru all shared the guest chamber while Eiri was in a room fit for a prince. Well as fit as it could be, It was the second largest room in the whole castle. First being the Kings Master bedroom. Being in that room bored the blond intensely. Of course being in a palace always bored him, whether it was this one or his own. All he really did was read and write in his tables to pass the time and even that was about as much fun to him as watching grass grow. As if boredom wasn't enough, He was facing yet another problem. He wondered if maybe he could see what Shuichi was up to.

As a guard passed by his chambers, He pulled him aside and made an unusual request.

"Excuse me, but can you ask Shuichi to come into my chambers for a bit, I need to talk to him about something." He asked. At first the guard raised an eyebrow at Eiri's request, No one has ever asked for one of their companions to come into their chambers, it was very unusual for a traveling prince to give such a request but at the same time, He was the guest.

"Very well, your highness." He said. And he went to Shuichi's room which was halfway across the long hallway. The other three men were just as bored as the prince was.

"Who knew being in a castle would be this boring?" Hiro complained. "I mean if this is all we're going to do then we might as well just go to sleep."

Suguru then Climbed onto his love's bed, hoping that he could distract him from being bored to death.

"I can think of something to do while we wait for dinner." He said. The mood suddenly changed when they saw their pink haired friend getting ready to exit. Confused, Suguru wondered what was going on.

"Master, Shuichi, Where are you going?" He asked. Just before opening the door Shuichi gave this response.

"I just don't want to be around when you two do the nasty." He said. Then the torment began. Hiro began to taunt him about his nightly activities with the prince.

"I'm sure that you will have some fun, too." He said. "Try not to disturb everyone now!"

"Knock it off, Hiro! Shuichi said defensively. Hiro began to snicker as the teen exited the room. He knew what Shuichi might be doing for the next hour or so. Not that it bothered him, after all He and suguru would be up to the same thing.

"Looks like we're all gonna get some action today." He said. Then he pinned the Psychic down, kissing him fiercely as he caressed the younger boy's body.

"I don't think we have much time, Hiro…" Suguru protested. Then hiro began to lower himself to his lover's tights. He gently pulled the leggings down.

"We have plenty of time." He said. "And my favorite food is right here." Hiro began to lick between the boy's legs, earning a moan of pleasure from him.

"Hiro." He moaned. "The door is closed right?" The sorcerer looked at the door. It showed no signs of being open. So he continued to pleasure the younger teen.

* * *

Shuichi wandered around the palace wondering what he could do to pass the time. There wasn't much to do since they came to that place. And watching his friends go at it wasn't an option. While he wandered the vast, open ended hallways he was approached by a guard.

"Master Shuichi, The prince wishes to see you." He said. The rookie was then lead to Eiri's room. The castle was far to big for him to be looking for his room, It was very easy to get lost in the hallways, for some guests it would be hours before they found any rooms. They got to the prince's room and Shuichi entered to find out what he wanted.

"Can you leave us alone for a bit?" Eiri asked. That was yet another unususal request that the guard had heard. He of course cooperated though.

"Yes, Your Highness." He said. Then he closed the door and walked away.

'An unusual relationship they have.' He thought. And then he went back to guarding the door.

"So what did you want to talk to me about, your highness?" Shuichi asked. He sat down beside the blond. Wondering what he wanted to talk to Shuichi about.

"I'm having a bit of a problem." Eiri said. Then he began to lean closer to the teen. Shuichi caught on to what he meant by a problem. But of course he wouldn't say it so obviously.

"I'm bored." He said plopping down on his bed. He always found palace life boring but if anything good came from that it was that they were safe in the palace and not being attacked in the woods, or on pirate ships.

"Well, there isn't very much we can do." Shuichi said. "We only have about forty minutes 'till supper."

'That's plenty of time for me.' Eiri thought. Then he thought of what to do for the next forty minutes. He pulled his lover down and began to find a way to entertain him for the next 2/3's of an hour. Shuichi was very hesitant at first though.

"Umm… Your highness, I don't think we should be doing that now, what if someone hears us?" He said. Eiri either didn't listen or simply doesn't' care. He continued to remove every piece of Shuichi's and his own clothing. He then pulled the teen into a passionate Kiss. It wouldn't be long before they would make love in the palace. When they finally broke the kiss Shuichi still tried to talk the blond out of it.

"Y-Your highness, I…oh, think we…Should S-stop. We might disturb everyone." He continued protesting.

"Then we'll do it quietly." Eiri said. And then they got under the covers and ended up spending their time nearly breaking the bed. It didn't take long for the guard to realize what was going on, but it wasn't his job to tell the king what went on in the rooms. So he wouldn't mention what was going on.

'I see, they are lovers.' He thought.

* * *

Dinner seemed calm enough; although the four travelers were a bit low on energy due to their prior activities. So many delicacies were served beyond their wildest dreams, Well, three of them anyway. Before they ate, the advisor had an announcement.

"fellow Eternians of the court, I bring to you the prince of edenia, Prince Eiri Uesugi. And now his bride to be…Princess Ayaka Usami!"

Out stepped a young woman with a long silk kimono and long dark brown hair. She was very beautiful indeed. Shuichi began to worry that maybe her beauty would be enough to lead Eiri astray from him. It seemed as though things between them would be harder to maintain and keep a secret. Supper was silent as silent could be. Eiri barely talked to the woman. Sure he knew that he had to marry her and it would join the two kingdoms together but deep down he knew that there was only one person he wanted to spend his life with. That person was sitting on the other side of the table.

* * *

Dinner was nearly over but the evening was about to be even more eventful whether anyone liked it or not. K threw himself into the Dining hall with some terrible news. He appeared to be badly bruised and had a black eye, his clothes were torn to shreds.

"Your majesty!" He cried. "A swarm of Pirates and assassins are attacking the village, two guards are already dead. They're heading this way right now."

Lord Usami was shocked to hear the news. "Just what kind of pirates are they, K."

"Your majesty, you can't possibly believe him, He is a traitor to our land!" the advisor said.

"Taki that is enough! What kind of pirates were they?" He asked.

"Ottoman Pirates…" K said. Then he fell to the floor and blacked out. He knew what had to be done about this.

"Taki, Send some soldiers to defend the castle, Ryuichi get K to the medical ward immediately. Everyone, stay calm, you are in good hand here!" he ordered.

The minute they heard about the ottoman ship, The four men all knew what was coming. An all out war. But not with Edenia, No, this was war between Eternias and the ottoman Pirates.

And the chapter is over for now. I know a lot happened in there but that was my plan. Next will probably be the battle and the arc continues. I know that Taki, Ryuichi and Ayaka came really late in the story but I planned for them to debut in this chapter for months now. Bare with me okay, Anyway, Chapter 23 should be up next week. Review and see you later.


	23. Chapter 22:Return of the ottoman part 2

Hello there everyone here is chapter 23. the ottoman ship is back and It causes Shuichi to feel responsible for the attack, so he goes to correct his mistake.

Chapter 22: Return of the ottoman Part 2

Dinner was nearly over but the evening was about to be even more eventful whether anyone liked it or not. K threw himself into the Dining hall with some terrible news. He appeared to be badly bruised and had a black eye, his clothes were torn to shreds.

"Your majesty!" He cried. "A swarm of Pirates and assassins are attacking the village, two guards are already dead. They're heading this way right now."

Lord Usami was shocked to hear the news. "Just what kind of pirates are they, K."

"Your majesty, you can't possibly believe him, He is a traitor to our land!" the advisor said.

"Taki, that is enough! What kind of pirates were they?" He asked.

"Ottoman Pirates…" K said. Then he fell to the floor and blacked out. He knew what had to be done about this.

"Taki, Send some soldiers to defend the castle, Ryuichi get K to the medical ward immediately. Everyone, stay calm, you are in good hand here!" he ordered.

The minute they heard about the ottoman ship, The four men all knew what was coming; An all out war. But not with Edenia, No, this was war between Eternias and the ottoman Pirates.

The whole ordeal was like a horrible joke or a bad dream to say the least. With the Ottoman pirates in eternias, the group knew exactly who they might have been looking for, and it wasn't Lord Usami. Shuichi began to feel somehow responsible for the attack on the castle. After all, a while back he and the others were captives, even if it was by choice. Now they were free and yet didn't see the possibility of the Pirates searching for them and seeking revenge. Worst of all one of his close friends suffered because of him.

The guilt and obligation to take some action began to fill the teen's mind more and more as he watched the battle outside. All he could think about was those day s that he spent in that ship. How he was a slave trying to protect the man he loves, how he nearly drowned after escaping. All he thought about was finding a way to face his guilt. The only way to do that in his case would be to take on the leader. He had to fight, even if it meant ending up like K or Sakano.

* * *

~Flashback- Almost four months ago~ (Chapters 10-13)

The pirates were carrying Eiri as a ship pulled up next to the ferryboat that Shuichi and the others were riding. They weren't sure what to do. They had never even seen pirates let alone went up against them. Also, the last time they had to fight Shuichi was nearly killed. It was one thing for the prince to be captured, but to be captured after having an argument weighed heavily on the teen. He and the prince had just had an argument minutes before the kidnapping. He felt like he had to do something about this, even though he had to do it alone.

"Let him go!" he shouted.

"Why should we?" said the pirate. "This lad can bring us a lot of gold."

Just then a shiver of fear entered Shuichi's mind. He never thought he would go up against pirates. In fact he was hoping that there would be no trouble today.

"W-what are you T-talking about?" he stammered.

The pirate then showed him a cage of dozens of men who were chained to the bars of the cage. They each had numbers and drawings written on them. The drawings were of copper, bronze, silver and gold coins. And each number was different. That's when the group realized that they were going to make Eiri a slave.

"Now ye have a choice lad. Give us the boy or he goes overboard." The pirate proposed. It was a tough decision, he wanted to get to Eternias but not if it meant losing the prince. He was supposed to protect Eiri at any cost. Even his freedom.

"Leave him, and take me instead. I'll do anything that you want me to. And I won't complain. Just please, don't harm the prince." He pleaded. Sakano walked onto the top deck wondering what was going on.

"Huh? What happened?" He asked lazily then he saw his prince motionless in the arms of pirates. Then he knew what danger they were in.

"What should we do captain?" one of the pirates asked.

"All of ye will be servants to me crew." He said. Then the captain turned his attention to Shuichi. A lustful look in his eyes.

"You will be my personal servant. Don't ye dare disappoint me. If ya do I'll have to make you walk the bloody plank."

Shuichi nodded with fear. Then the other boys tried to stop their friend from making what they believed was a terrible mistake.

"Master shuichi!" Hiro screamed. "You don't have to be their slave. It's not worth it!"

"He's right." Sakano said. "We won't let you lose your freedom, even if it is for the king."

"It's not for the king, it's for him!" shuichi responded. Then they all realized that there was only one way to help him now.

"If you take him, you take us too!" Hiro shouted to the pirate captain. Then the captain was starting to get a few clever Ideas. Five slaves for the price of one was very rare and not an opportunity to be passed up.

* * *

Eiri came to while trapped in the cage. It seemed like everything that happened earlier was all a blur. But when he realized that he wasn't on the ferryboat, he questioned the other captives.

"What's going on?" he asked. "Why are we all in this cage?"

"We've been captured by captain Zangief and he's gonna make us all slaves." The prisoner said with panic in his voice. Eiri couldn't believe it. He was about to be a slave to the pirates. And to top it all off he didn't see the others. He began to assume that they were already enslaved by Zangief and his crew. Then he thought about Shuichi. He thought about the fight they had moments before being abducted. Now he wanted to find shuichi and try to get them off of this ship.

"In any case, have any of you seen a young man around? Pink hair, rose colored kimono?" he asked.

"You mean captain Zangief's personal servant. He was let out of the cage hours ago." The captive answered.

"I imagine that your friend is serving the captain's needs right now." Another prisoner remarked. Then Eiri got a suspicious yet worried look in his eyes. He had a good Idea of what the prisoner meant by "Serving the captain's needs." But if he was going to rescue his protector, he would have to play dumb with the captives.

"Just what do you mean by 'serving the captains needs'" He asked.

"Oh, well, sometimes the captain has his intimate needs that are fulfilled by his servants"=Explained the prisoner. "I think he's going to have a good time with that little one."

Then the prince's emotions were boiling over at that point. No one was going to have their way with him not on his watch- or sun dial. (Whatever they used to tell time in that era.) It was time for him to protect his protector.

_Shuichi, I don't know where you are, but I'll find you. And I will save you._ Eiri thought.

_After a few hours of searching Eiri was finally reunited with his protector, If only for a short time._

* * *

As he walked the long distance to the Laundry cabin, he ran into two people. One of them he wasn't sure he would ever see so soon.

"Majesty!" Shuichi called. He was both shocked and overjoyed to see his prince was still in one piece. But then he looked at the other man and was beginning to get suspicious.

"Your majesty, who is this man?" he asked.

"This is master Ryu of Lelouche." Eiri answered. "He was helping me find you and the others. But it looks like you came to us." Then he went over and bonked his protector on the head.

"OW! What was that for?!" Shuichi shouted. Then the blond prince grabbed him by his shirt.

"Didn't it tell you not to do anything stupid like this ever again?! And look what you do!"

"Alright, calm down you two." Ryu said. "We should be finding the rest of your friends."

_When they were trying to find the rest of the gang, Yuki confronted Shuichi about his reckless actions._

_He didn't want to show it but he as very worried._

"You dumb-ass!" he began. "What the hell is wrong with you?! Don't you realize that you just gave up your freedom?"

Shuichi was livid that after what they've been through, it seemed like the prince still didn't trust him. Or at least still believed that it wasn't really for him that he was fighting for.

"Your majesty, why can't you understand that I would do anything for you; I would risk anything in this world to keep you safe from harm, because I… I'm in love with you my prince." Shuichi finally confessed. The blond heir was in complete shock of what he just heard. There was no way that anyone could ever fall in love with him. Especially a man; how could this be?

"That's impossible." The prince said. "We're men; there is no way that you can love me."

His words were harsh and hard hitting. But they weren't enough to turn the teen away. Shuichi would have to find a way to convince him that his feelings were real and that he really does love him. But what could he possibly do for Eiri that would convince him that he really was serious about him.

'There is no way that this brat could possibly love me!' Eiri thought. 'We're both men. I have to get married it would never work out.' But deep down, he knew that he felt the same way. He wanted to tell him how he felt but he still had issues with trusting anyone. But at least now he knew why Shuichi sometime did the reckless things he did. But at that moment they had some friends to find and the romance would have to wait until they all escaped from the ship and got as far away from captain zangief as humanly possible.

They all headed for the top deck and saw a crossing ferryboat. On the boat was the two people that they had been looking for all along. Hiro and Ryu. They rushed for the ferryboat and one by one they jumped from the ottoman to the ferry. There was a large gap between the boats and in that gap was an ocean tens of thousands of feet deep. The current was irregular because the clouds were getting darker and darker. The loud cry of thunder filled the air. Most of them managed to get to the boat but Shuichi was terrified of the jump. All of his fears surfaced as the storm grew close and the boat was floating away. What if he didn't make it? What if he fell into the ocean and drowned? What if he never saw his friends again? The others did their best to encourage him to take the leap of faith.

"its okay, Shuichi." Chun-Li said reaching her hand out. "I'll catch you."

But that did very little to ease his fear.

"Master Shuichi, you can do it!" Hiro shouted. "Just believe in yourself!"

That didn't help very much either. But when he saw that the boat was slipping further and further away, the rookie warrior finally decided to jump from the ottoman and hopefully land on the boat. He floated in the air and came down but was inches away from the boat. He slowly descended to the waters below. Chun-Li tried to catch him but it was too late. He was already down below. The entire group grieved over what appeared to be the demise of a fallen comrade. But they noticed that Eiri was gone. They looked everywhere for him but he was nowhere in sight.

_~End flashback~_

* * *

'I have to fight.' Shuichi thought. That was all he could think as he watched one soldier after another be slaughtered by his former enemies. But he knew that the others wouldn't let him go out to fight. How could he possibly face his guilt and avoid getting caught by everyone else at the same time? When it appeared that everyone went to bed, The rookie warrior crept through the room he shared With Hiro and Suguru and found one of Hiro's invisibility potions. He normally wasn't one to steal or lie, but in this case, he had to clear his conscience, even if it meant having more on it.

Shuichi hid the potion in his armor and slowly headed out, but before he left the room, Suguru was awakened. It appeared that he was busted.

"Master Shuichi, what are you doing?" He asked groggily.

I'm uhh… I'm just…er….going to the bathroom!" the pink haired teen lied. Then he quickly and quietly left the room to face his past, well it wasn't that far back but afer the castle was attacked, he couldn't let his guilt weigh on his mind. He used he invisibility potion to sneak by all of the guards and once he was outside of the castle, things were going to go his way or no way at all.

The fight was still going on and judging form all of the bodies lying in front of the castle, it looked like the Ottoman pirates were winning. But that was going to change.

The captain of that devilish ship was watching as his pawns defeated the soldiers. He was approached by a not so familiar face, not familiar to him at least.

"Are you the one who attacked the castle?" Shuichi asked coldly. Bison just gave a smirk and answered him; Knowing that there would be a fight following their introductions.

"Yes…I am. You must be one of the prisoners who escaped. You will pay for defying me," He threatened.

"You'll be the one to pay for involving innocent lives in your search, if you want a fight, I'll give you one." Shuichi said.

Back at the castle Suguru was awakened again, this time by a vision. Not just any vision either.

_

* * *

_

Image

_Shuichi and are in a fight to the death as the King, Taki and a few surviving soldiers watched. The pink haired boy is fighting both him and Sakano at the same time._

_End image._

"THAT IDIOT!" Suguru screamed. "HOW CAN HE BE SO RECKLESS, GOD DAMMIT!"

Aright another cliffhanger everyone. Hope you liked it. and if you are just reading this chapter and haven't read the rest of the story, please do that .

Chapter 24 should be up next week, see you around.


	24. Chapter 23:Return of the ottoman part 3

Here is chapter 24 everyone. This one may be where everything changes. I know that I haven't updated in a while but that is only because I couldn't procrastinate with my project, you understand, don't you.

Blah, blah, don't own blah blah don't like yaoi don't read.

Chapter 23: Return of the ottoman Part 3

The captain of that devilish ship was watching as his pawns defeated the soldiers. He was approached by a not so familiar face, not familiar to him at least.

"Are you the one who attacked the castle?" Shuichi asked coldly. Bison just gave a smirk and answered him; Knowing that there would be a fight following their introductions.

"Yes…I am. You must be one of the prisoners who escaped. You will pay for defying me," He threatened.

"You'll be the one to pay for involving innocent lives in your search, if you want a fight, I'll give you one." Shuichi said.

Back at the castle Suguru was awakened again, this time by a vision. Not just any vision either.**(1)**

_

* * *

_

Image

_Shuichi and are in a fight to the death as the King, Taki and a few surviving soldiers watched. The pink haired boy is fighting both him and Sakano at the same time._

_End image._

"THAT IDIOT!" Suguru screamed. "HOW CAN HE BE SO RECKLESS, GOD DAMMIT!" He turned to the bed that Shuichi was supposed to be sleeping in and saw that he was absent. It looked like the psychic's vision was coming true as he stayed in that room.

He knew that his friend could be extremely reckless, he knew that if the others didn't keep a close eye, Shuichi would run off and do something dangerous. But unlike the other times in the past, he and hiro had no idea what was going through the teen's mind. He looked by his bed and saw that Hiro was not there either. Suguru wandered the halls to find his lover and tell him about his vision. Knowing Hiro, he may have gone to see how K was doing. After all, he did come into the castle moderately injured and barely able to move. Maybe Hiro was just keeping him company.

However, there was one problem; Suguru didn't trust the former soldier in the slightest and when it came to being around Hiro, he really didn't trust him. It was obvious that something may have been going on between them and he was going to find out. As he passed the medical ward, he could hear what sounded like two people laughing. The laughing sounded very familiar to him and he began to hear some other, more peculiar sounds, getting more suspicious he opened the door that was strangely unlocked. He saw that Hiro and K were just joking around about something. Although Suguru was not one to jump to conclusions, his mistrust towards K was overwhelming to say the least.

Just as he was ready to confront them he had yet another vision, only this one would be more painful than the first.

_

* * *

_

Image

_A group of Gorgons are attacking Eternias and turning everyone into solid stone. Controlling the gorgons is a masked witch holding a mysterious jar._

_End image._

* * *

Suguru lost his balance and fell back first to the floor. He was now barely conscious from that last vision. It was rare for any psychic to have more than one vision a day, at least after a few minutes of having his vision about Shuichi.

K and Hiro ran out of the room to check on their comrade. It looked like the visions had him in intense pain. Hiro went to the psychic side, hoping that what he thought was happening to him wasn't.

"Suguru, are you alright? Suguru!" Hiro shouted. But there was no response. He then saw that Suguru was having yet another vision and that's when the worst started to cross his mind.

Hiro knew that the only time Suguru would have three visions in a row was if his dark energy was taking over him.

"What did you see?" Hiro asked. He couldn't help but worry about the man he loved. It looked like he would finally circum to the visions painful impact on his body. Just like in his prophecy.

"Gorgons, Lot's of gorgon were attacking the kingdom. And … before that… I saw master Shuichi…fighting the leader of those pirates. Hiro, That priest was right… These visions really were too much for me to bear. I should have gotten rid of them; you shouldn't have…found me." Suguru explained.

"You don't understand! I love you and I will search to the ends of the earth for you! Suguru…Please…Don't die on me…I need you!" Hiro cried.

"I can't…. I want to stay in this world with you, all of you but I can't … he won't let me…Why can't I stay…?**(2)"**

"Hiro, what's wrong?" K asked staring at the lifeless teen. He then saw that Hiro was doing everything he can to resuscitate the boy but failing miserably. But soon Suguru rose again, however something was different about him. Different and frightening.**(3)**

"Suguru…" Hiro called. He couldn't help but have nothing but fear after what happened the other year with him. Every time this dark entity took over it was for some reason always trying to kill hiro. At first the sorcerer never understood why but on this day he finally understood. _He _was the only thing standing between Suguru and pure darkness. He was the one who should have been able to keep this from happening but it failed miserably. He didn't believe what the other magicians said about it being destiny. But from what has been happening since they came it looked like it was destiny after all. Then the psychic finally spoke, but not necessarily as himself.

"Finally I'm rid of that wretched fool, "he began. "I was wondering when that runt would die. And now that he's out of my way, I can get rid of you!"

Hiro had a good idea what happened to his lover. It was just like in the prophecy they heard before.

* * *

~flashback~

"_I don't believe it!" Hiro shouted As they sat in their cabin. "I won't believe it! I don't believe that Suguru's visions will kill him there's no way."  
_

"_Forgive me young one." A priest said. He was fortelling a prophecy that involved Suguru's future if one day the visions became too much for him. And about the dark entity that was born within him. According to his prediction, Suguru would die and the evil inside him would take over his body. Hiro wouldn't believe it. He always thought there was something he could do to prevent it from happening._

"_Young one, I know that this is the last thing that you want but in order to keep your friend safe you must stay away, if you are further involved with him his evil side will be more likely to get rid of you!"_

_All the sorcerer in training could do was listen to the preist. He knew that Suguru's visions were painful but never imagined that they would one day cause them any real harm._

~end flashback~

"Who…are you?" He asked coldly. K raised his sword at the body that once belonged to his friend. It didn't hurt to be prepared for what this evil Suguru would throw at them.

"I have been called many things over the years, but you can just call me Saiou." He answered.

It appeared that Hiro would be in for a fight. Except it was no ordinary fight, it would be with a shell of his late lover. Coming out of his room, Eiri was wondering just what the hell was going on. He couldn't sleep because of all the noise he was hearing from them. He saw Hiro and Suguru's body standing by the medical ward along with K raising a sword to Suguru.

"What are you three fighting about now?!" he asked irritantly. He knew that whatever it was it had to be serious if weapons were drawn.

"er…Your majesty!" K said pretending to be distracted. "Why you Uh….go back to sleep….we'll settle this."

His efforts of course were useless. Then Saiou turned to him and began to taunt the men.

"Isn't this lovely, the gangs all here. Well, almost." He began. "I wonder where that pink fluffball is, Oh, that right, he's outside getting the crap kicked out of him by bison. Heh,heh, I should have known the twerp would go and be reckless."

"Suguru, What the hell happened to you?!" Eiri asked slightly confused. He thought that the person he thought was suguru was acting strange; if he only knew.

"I'm just telling you the truth, my prince." Saiou said. "And by the way, your Suguru is no longer alive, I, Saiou am now in control. All of your lives will be forfeited eventually but first I have some business to attend to…" And with that he vanished wtih0ou a trace.

* * *

Eiri then turned to Hiro, suspecting that he knew something about what happened to Suguru earlier. He was starting to suspect that he didn't tell them the whole story.

"I had a feeling you were hiding something after that incident in the forest." He said. "I think you have some explaining to do. What happened to Suguru."

It was all out there now, No matter how much he hated to admit it. Hiro had to tell him everything.

"There was a prophecy saying that Suguru's visions would one day bring Saiou out of his bonds. That's what happened in the forest a few days ago. Suguru lost control of his powers and was about to become saiou but he regained control. Then he left and went to that shaman to try to get rid of him but tjem the shaman turned us into stone. Before we left, Saiou tried to take over again and kill me but K stopped him and Suguru was having vision after vision until finally it…" His voice began to crack as tears fell from his eyes.

"Is he right about Shuichi?" Eiri asked.

Hiro, still grieving for his lover didn't want the prince to worry anymore about Shuichi.

"I have a feeling he might be, you better go out there and talk some sense into him. I just hope master didn't get into too much trouble." He answered.

Eiri roamed the hallways trying to find a way out. The eternian castle was huge, even bigger than his own, at least where he lived he could find an exit.

"This brat really _will_ be the death of me." He said to himself.**(4)**

Meanwhile, outside the castle, Shuichi was struggling to hold his own against Bison and Sakano. Just like in one of Suguru's final visions, Bison had the upper hand. The worst part of this was that he wasn't a skilled warrior at all. He was at the bottom of his class and had the lowest rank. He at one point was afraid of his own shadow and now he made a reckless move trying to fight when he should have stayed in bed. Little did he know that his friends were in deeper than he could be right now?

Alright that chapter is done for now. I know it was almost as long as the last one but that's because there were so many Ideas flowing through me like my blood during…(Insert random female problem here)

a few things I need to elaborate on

1. Ever saw angel? Remember the episode that cordelia's visions put her into an astral plane?

2. A quote from the afore mentioned "Angel" When fred dies and Illyria takes over her body.

3. Wesley's first ecounter wtih Illyria.

chapter 4 when Eiri ran after shucihi in the hotel that was about to get bombed.

chapter 25 should be up soon and it's the last part of this arc. I have a poll up for all of you to help me decide what I should do after putting chapter 25 up. POLL WILL BE UP UNTIL 11/9


	25. Chapter 24:Return of the ottoman part 4

Here is chapter 25 everybody. I'm not sure what to do beyond this point so I made a Poll, I want all of you to help me decide whether I should end volume 1 after this chapter, add a few more then end it, or continue vol 2 in vol.1. the poll is up so vote if you haven't yet.

I don't own gravitation.

Chapter Summary (Sure has been a while): The fight between Shuichi and continues and has an unexpected conclusion, Hiro Confronts Saiou and comes to a realization about Shuichi's actions. Eiri Discover's that he and Shuichi have a deeper bond than they thought.

* * *

Chapter 24

Return of the ottoman part 4

Eiri roamed the hallways trying to find a way out. The eternian castle was huge, even bigger than his own; at least where he lived he could find an exit (.1**)**

"this brat really will be the death of me!" He said to himself. He wandered around the castle for a significant amount of time and still could not find an exit. Soon, he figured that if he couldn't find an exit, he would make one.

Meanwhile, outside the castle, Shuichi was struggling to hold his own against Bison and Sakano. Just like in one of Suguru's final visions, Bison had the upper hand. The worst part of this was that he wasn't a skilled warrior at all. He was at the bottom of his class and had the lowest rank. He at one point was afraid of his own shadow and now he made a reckless move trying to fight when he should have stayed in bed. Little did he know that his friends were in deeper than he could be right now?

It looked like all four men were in over their heads when they were caught in the crossfire of their lives, losing the ones they loved and confronting a conscience would eventually cost some or perhaps all of them their lives. The battles going on outside the castle as well as in their hearts were getting more and more intense as they remained in the kingdom. The battle was getting more and more violent and more blood was being splattered all over the ground. Many of the soldiers who were defending it were meeting their matches. so was Shuichi. Sure, he wasn't dead, yet but he was seriously hurt from all of the attacks he endured. It looked like he was losing badly. He had very little battle experience and was unsure how to go about it.

'What am I going to do now? He thought. 'he's too strong for me to fight, I have no experience what- so -ever and I don't have magic, I better quit now while I'm alive to regret this.'

Bison stepped toward the teen. A bright glow surrounding his arm, it appeared he was about to finish the boy off. Adding insult to injury, Shuichi was hurt so badly he could barely move.

"You should have just stayed in bed, kid!" the captain taunted. "You knew you were no match for me and yet you continue to oppose me. Are you this way with your friends as well. Do you disobey them when they tell you to do something? Or perhaps you don't have any friends. Did they get murdered, or could it be that they saw you for the pathetic little shit that you are and abandoned you. No matter, one less piece of trash to deal with."

With those words the evil pirate fired his psycho ball, it just missed his target but the impact sent him flying toward the walls of the palace they were outside of. Shuichi hit the walls at more than one hundred miles per hour. If that didn't kill him, Bison's next move just might.

* * *

Hiro was outback looking around for Saiou, the man that emerged from his late lover's body. It still rang in his mind that Suguru was no longer with him. But he refused to accept it. He thought that there could be a way to get him back, somehow Suguru would come back to him and they would be together. At least that's what he wanted to believe. He wandered around the garden and saw no signs of life in the garden. He still continued to search for him, and keep the alter ego from causing any trouble to the kingdom.

"You are the most desperate man I've ever come to know." A voice taunted from the garden. He saw that it was Suguru, or at least it was Surguru's body. It still did not stick in hiro's mind that the person he was talking too was indeed, Saiou.

"Saiou…" Hiro said. Then the man in question walked towards the sorcerer. Not taunting him or planning to attack. This made him very suspicious. Especially since there were times where the psychic tried to kill him.

"It's always about Suguru, isn't it. You always have to think about _him. _"He began. It wasn't long before Hiro got the hint of how Saiou was acting.

"I get it you were jealous of him, but that was no reason to kill him." Hiro snapped. He was certain that the other half had something to do with what happened to his lover.

"I had nothing to do with what happened to your precious Suguru! I knew that he wouldn't let me out but something or someone let me out and as a result he died. "The other "Suguru" explained. He was part of Suguru so he knew that magic outside can affect them and his visions, in fact he knew that someone was toying with Suguru's mind and was manipulating the visions as well as increasing the damage it did to his soul. Sure he wanted Suguru dead but _he _wanted to be the one to do it, not an outsider.

"Tell me then, Saiou, If you knew that someone was interfering with his visions, why didn't you do anything to stop it?" Hiro interrogated the Psychic.

"Believe it or not, I wanted to warn him and you! But in order for that to happen, I had to come out, and he wouldn't let me, I knew that the longer my host resisted, the more it would hurt him until he eventually gave in to the impact of those fake visions."

'Fake visions, Manipulation, somehow this doesn't make sense!' the magician thought. Just who could be strong enough to manipulate another person's powers to the point of killing them? Hiro soon thought about what he was told days past and figured it out.

* * *

~flashback~ a few months ago (Chapters 13 and 16)

I just saw a man on this ship. He was killing all the slaves and capturing the living ones. Hiro was one of the captured slaves." He warned.

All of them were shocked to hear about Suguru's vision. Cody and Chun-Li looked at each other. It seemed as if they new the person who would be attacking the ship at any moment. Both Shuichi and Suguru looked extremely suspicious of their behavior. They appeared to be frightened of the person that suguru saw in his vision.

"You know who I'm talking about, Don't you?" he questioned. The two turned their attention to their new companions then to each other. The fear that covered their eyes began to slowly creep all over their bodies. They did not want to look suspicious but they were terrified of the person in Suguru's vision. Plus they remained quiet.

"Who is he?" the psychic asked again. This time he sounded more serious. Cody and Chun-Li knew that they were boxed in a corner. There was no getting around it; they had to let their new friends know what was up.

"The Man in your vision is Bison. He is the real captain of the ottoman; Zangief is only the acting captain until he returns from his world voyage." The Chinese woman explained. "He has what they call psycho power. He uses it to control people's minds, destroy objects, even to kill anyone opposing him. Either you join him or die. Either way he

When the guys finally reached the town, they found a doctor to treat their unconscious friend. This was when accusations and theories began to run wild.

"Something tells me that Bison is responsible for what happened to Suguru and why Sakano did that to us." Shuichi suggested. It seemed to all add up, not being able to find sakano before getting off of the boat, Suguru's first vision that got cut off. It had to be him.

"We don't know for sure if he is being controlled." Eiri said. He was always the type of person who believed that people changed on their own free will. But in this case he figured that mind control was a very strong possibility as well. And if anyone was strong enough to manipulate other people's psychic abilities, it was very possible that it was the captain of the ottoman.

"I wouldn't be surprised if that clown _was _hypnotized by some evil sorcerer." He said. "Sakano does have a weak mind. But that doesn't explain what happened to the kid."

Then they noticed that the red haired sorcerer was strangely quiet about the whole thing. They wondered if maybe he knew something else.

"There's something else to this isn't it?" Eiri asked. Hiro did not respond. Then he began to head for the exit when he was stopped again. Now the couple was sure that he was hiding something.

"Hiro, does Suguru have any problems with his powers that we should know about?" Shuichi asked. It was finally time for the magician to come clean about his lover's secret. He knew that it would jeopardize the psychics trust in him but this was a serious matter that could get out of hand if it wasn't resolved.

"Well, he does sometimes lose control of his powers suddenly." Hiro said. "I've seen it happen, its really scary. It was like I didn't know who he was anymore. But I don't think that transformation had anything to do with the powers that be."

Suguru finally awoke from his "nap" and heard all of his friends thinking up possible reasons for him losing control of his powers. Ever since he was a kid he would sometimes lose control of his energy and it would start destroying everything in its path.

Not to long ago, before meeting Shuichi and Yuki he experienced a similar problem, a problem that almost killed hiro.

~End flashback~

* * *

Hiro closed his fist, his eyes filled with rage at his discovery. He knew that only one person could have that kind of power. The same person he heard about in the boat.

"Bison!" He muttered under his breath.

"I'm sorry what?" Saiou asked. He was dormant in the other's body at the time so he didn't really understand what Hiro was talking about.

"While we were prisoners on that ship, you know the one outside with all those pirates, we found out about this guy known as Bison. He was the leader and was away on business while we were there. We managed to escape with our lives, but it looks like they found us and are involving the Kingdom of Eternias in their search. They were after us all along. I guess master Shuichi knew that and felt guilty about it. That's why he went to fight him! Dammit, I should have stopped him!" Hiro explained, guilt was running through his mind as he thought about Suguru's vision.

Saiou then wrapped his arms around his other half's lover. "It's not like you would have been able to talk him out of it, I doubt even his highness would be able to get through to him." Something about him was different to Hiro. Why was he being so caring toward the red haired man? Could it be that Suguru Returned? Or could it be that maybe Saiou wasn't evil? Hiro took the smaller boy's hand and held him closer.

"Suguru…" he breathed out.

"Yes Hiro, It's me." He said. Shocked to hear his voice the older teen turned around to see that same shine that he saw in Suguru's eyes.(**2)** But something was wrong, even with that shine he could still sense Saiou's presence. But that didn't matter. All that mattered was that his beloved was back. Or so he thought.

* * *

IN THE CASTLE

Eiri used his own powers to try to make an exit and find Shuichi before it was too late. He began to realize why Shuichi made the reckless move he did. It was all because of being held on that ship. And because of that man who held them there.

As he got ready to blow a hole in the walls, the blond saw that there was an open room. It was Shuichi's room that he shared with Hiro and Suguru. He went in and surprise, the widnow was open and from there he saw that the boy was unconscious by the castle walls and about to be brutally killed by the man in red. Seeing Shuichi in so much pain devastated the prince, what was worse was that he couldn't do anything to stop at the time. Then he got an even bigger surprise.

_E-Eiri, I'm sorry._ A voice said. Oddly enough the voice belonged to his lover. 'Shuichi?' Eiri thought.

_I really am pathetic aren't I? I should have known better than to fight this guy, he's too strong and now I might not live long enough to see you. If I could only see you one last time, at least I could die happy._

'Hold on, brat, I'll get you back inside.' Eiri thought. It was strange, He was never able to read other people's thoughts, especially from afar. It looked like some of his father's power was given to him.

Outside, Shuichi's Eyes shot wide open. He was startled to find that he could hear his prince. Something strange was happening. How could he hear Eiri?

_Eiri! You can hear me?! _

'That's right, idiot, I can hear your thoughts now! What the hell were you thinking fighting that man, do you have a death wish?'

_I'm sorry, Eiri I just,,, I knew that they were after me so I had to face them!_

'You could have at least let me help you! Which is exactly what I'm going to do?'

Shuichi turned and saw that Eiri was getting ready to come down to the fight right from the window. His eyes widened as fear grew. Also, all of the soldiers as well as the King and Taki saw what was going on. That's when suspicions began to surface.

"Something about their relationship is a bit odd." Lord Usami said.

"I agree." Taki said. "It's not normal for him to care for a lowly soldier like him."

As Eiri climbed down from the castle he saw that Shuichi had woken up. Maybe the fight would be easier than he thought. He got to the ground and saw that Shuichi still hadn't moved. But he regained consciousness.

"You're an idiot." He said to the pink haired boy. He then took the injured s warrior into his arms. Shuichi wasn't expecting for them to have a bond deeper than this, but it happened and there wasn't much that could be done but to embrace their new connection. The next thing he knew, they were in a deep, loving kiss. Both lord Usami and Taki were in shock to see them kiss. They couldn't believe that the prince of edenia would think about being involved with another man, and to them, Shuichi was a second class citizen. The kiss finally broke and Shuichi gave these words

"And you're a jerk." Shuichi said. Suddenly they saw the man above standing over them draw out another psycho ball, but this one was even bigger than the last, and it was aimed at them both.

"*evil laugh* isn't that nice, looks like you'll die together!" Bison taunted. Eiri knew that even his powers wouldn't be enough to stand up against someone as powerful as him. But it didn't hurt to try to get away right? When the psycho ball blasted, chunks of the earth flew all over. Then something even stranger happened. The pink haired teen reached his arms out to push him back and saw that magic was blasting out from his hands, hitting his opponent. The blast caused Bison to fall backwards. When he came to he noticed that they were gone.

"What- where…how the….WHERE THE HELL DID THEY GO?!" Bison couldn't put what was going on into complete sentences. Their disappearance caught him off guar

"I don't think you need to worry about where they are!" A voice said. The captain turned to see that it was Taki the King's advisor. He knew he was in for punishment, especially after seeing the glow from his staff.

"Because they're not where you'll be in the next few seconds, see you in hell, Bison." He said before blasting the man with his staff. The next thing he saw was blood splatter all over the ground.

"That takes care of him, now to deal with that kid."

* * *

THE NEXT DAY IN THE THRONE ROOM

"Prince Eiri, do you realize that by being in a relationship with him that you have just sent an open invitation to a war? Not to mention that you have denied our protection?" Lord Usami asked. It was out in the open that he and Shuichi were lovers and nothing could be done about it. Not that Eiri wanted to do anything about it. All that ran through his mind was that he knew who he was and who he wanted to be with.

"You don't seem to understand your majesty. As annoying and reckless as he is, I do care for him and I don't intend to leave him." Eiri said. This made lord Usami fume with rage.

"That man is a lowly soldier, You are a noble, he has broken the law our kingdom!" the king exclaimed.

"I thought there was no law against being intimate with another man." Eiri scoffed.

"There isn't. but there _is a law against him _, a soldier being sexually involved with you! I will have to punish him for this." The prince said as he reached for a paper only to find the blond standing in front of him. He was beginning to get very irritated by the man now.

"You really are ungrateful. Do you realize that Shuichi just saved your kingdom from those pirates? Instead of punishing him for being with me, you should be looking at him as a hero." The blond began to shout at the king. It looked like another fight was about to happen. Lord Usami had enough or Eiri's talking back and was ready to teach him a lesson. But he couldn't put his people through a repeat of last night.

"Very well, I'll leave Shuichi be for now on one condition, you are to marry my daughter at summer's end. And after that your Shuichi must go back to edenia! If he does not, I will have to put him to death."

"Fine," Eiri said. "I have a condition for you too, you can't do anything to harm Shuichi, Understand?"

The men agreed to their terms, but something was still unclear, Just how could Shuichi be able to use magic? How were they able to communicate telepathically? And why was Eiri so drawn to him.

"My liege, I have some interesting news regarding the Pirates." Taki interrupted.

"Not now, Taki I'm not in the mood." Lord usami interjected.

"You'll want to hear about this!" he said. " I found out that Bison and those Pirates are from The kingdom of Axis, and rumor has it that after the king was killed his son was taken and put up for adoption to commoners in Edenia."

"And this is interesting, why?" The king asked.

"It was believed that the prince inherited incredible magic from his father. I'm beginning to believe that Shuichi is indeed that long lost prince. Plus you do know about our current war against axis. If they find that he's here, they will accuse us of kidnapping him and the war could get dangerous."

"What do you suggest we do, Taki." Lord Usami asked.

"We must get him to return to his kingdom, or risk another attack." He suggested.

"What about his friends?"

"Them too." It was clear what they should do, if Taki was right, then Shuichi would be a major threat to their peace.

Phew, long one there. I'm not sure what to do beyond this point, Should I end it here and start vol.2 on the 9th Picking up where this left off or with a time skip. Should I continue and then end the story and begin Vol.2 on 11/9 with any time I please, Or should I merge vol. 1 and 2. Or end it here and forget about it. I say November 9th because that's when I intend to post part 2. THE POLL IS UP NOW SO VOTE IF YOU HAVEN'T! POLL CLOSES NOV 9!

A few things to elaborate on

1. explained last chapter

2. in season 5 of angel, Illyria could make herself look like fred, that's the case with Saiou. He can appear as Suguru if he want's to.


	26. Chapter 25: Aftermath: V1 Epilogue

Here is chapter 26 everyone forget what I said last time, this is the real last chapter of vol. 1. I want to show you what everyone is thinking about before vol. 2 starts. Enjoy this epilogue.

Chapter 25: aftermath

Four days passed since the fight with the Ottoman pirates. In those four days lives have significantly changed, some for the better, some for the worse but change in itself was inevitable. With Shuichi still recovering from his exhaustion after the fight, Eiri was beginning to wonder about his relationship with the boy. How long it would last, whether or not the Princess would accept it if she knew. Another part of his deal with the king wasn't just that he had to marry Ayaka in just over six months, lord Usami couldn't tell her about him and Shuichi. But there was something about Shuichi that neither of them knew, but for some reason Taki knew, or at least suspected. Rumor had it that Shuichi was a long lost prince of Axis that was raised by edenian commoners whether it was true or not, they would be in for a big surprise.

Shuichi, Sakano and K were all in the medical wing of the castle still being treated. K was already healed but still had to stay for further observation. Shuichi's injuries were recovering nicely and he was in a peaceful sleep. He had a long day and when he woke up, he would have a lot of questions. It sure was strange how Sakano went back to being his old self. Considering all that had happened four days ago.

* * *

~Flashback- Four days ago~

_During his fight against Bison and Sakano, Shuichi had found out something very strange about the way his old friend had turned to the dark side. Well, not exactly strange but his suspicions seemed to be true. The clown was under Bison's control. As he was fighting his former friend he received a strange request._

"_S-Shuichi…" he called. The pink haired teen was shocked to hear his voice. He thought for a moment that he was either dreaming or losing his mind. But it was real, it was all real. _

"_Sakano?" He responded. Then he stood up to see that the slave was starting to fight against the psycho power that was controlling him. Sakano, like Shuichi was covered in bloody injuries but theyweren't dealt my him, they were from his own master._

"_S-Shuichi…Please…kill, me..." Sakano breathed out. The boy was completely shocked by his opponent's request. He had never killed anyone before. Except that assassin but that was practically suicide. But now someone close to him was asking him to kill him. Shuichi was not the type to kill in cold blood._

"_No, I won't do that!" He said. Then he turned to find help, but was stopped by his old friends grasp. It looked like he would be in for a long fight, but not a physical one this time._

"_P-Please Shu…I can't go on like this anymore, Please, kill me." He pleaded_

"_NO!" Shuichi exclaimed with tears falling from his face. "There has to be another way!"_

"_There isn't…I'm running out of time and energy…I won't be able to fight him off much longer. Shuichi, do it. Do it now!"_

_Now the warrior had to think about what would be worse, setting someone free by killing them, or letting them be controlled forever just to keep them alive. Sakano was his friend and he didn't want to let him down. Even if it meant doing something that he knew he would regret._

_Shuichi held up his sword. Still in shock of what he was asked to do. But if it would free his friend it had to be done. _

"_I'm sorry." He said before slicing the man across is chest. Blood splattered all over the ground and then on to the teen's soft and delicate face; His tears now mixing with the blood of a slave. He hoped that he would never have to harm anyone else again._

_End flashback_

* * *

Shuichi finally woke up after remembering what he had to do to save his friend. But was in for yet another surprise. Sakano was in the medical wing lying right next to him; wrapped up in bandages and was strapped with an IV in his arm. It was shocking enough that he asked the rookie to kill him but for him to survive was an even bigger miracle. Something had to have happened to bring him back to life. Could his magic perhaps be responsible for Sakano surviving and/or being resurrected?

"Well how about that? Sleeping beauty finally woke up." A voice said. Shuichi turned to see K standing up above them.

"K, what happened, is everyone alright?" he asked.

"A lot has happened since you snuck out." K started to explain. "First Suguru's had like a million visions and then he…Kind of…died. And then Hiro went after our new friend Saiou and it turns out that he's not so bad. Oh, and the king knows about you and the prince and said that after he gets married you have to go back to edenia. Heh, quite a day eh, Shu?"

"Uh, huh?" Shuichi agreed. Then he thought about what K said about the king and a wave of embarrassment filled his mind when he thought about the fight.

* * *

Flashback

_As Eiri climbed down from the castle he saw that Shuichi had woken up. Maybe the fight would be easier than he thought. He got to the ground and saw that Shuichi still hadn't moved. But he regained consciousness._

"_You're an idiot." He said to the pink haired boy. He then took the injured warrior into his arms. Shuichi wasn't expecting for them to have a bond deeper than this, but it happened and there wasn't much that could be done but to embrace their new connection. The next thing he knew, they were in a deep, loving kiss. Both lord Usami and Taki were in shock to see them kiss. They couldn't believe that the prince of edenia would think about being involved with another man, and to them, Shuichi was a second class citizen. The kiss finally broke and Shuichi gave these words_

"_And you're a jerk." Shuichi said. _

_End flashback_

* * *

Violet eyes widened at the discovery of what the king and his adviser might have seen. He started to wonder what would become of his relationship with the man he loves.

"Oh, shit," the teen blurted out. "So, he knows everything now."

"That's right, Shu-chan. He knows." K said. It all sank in and it wasn't a pretty thought. Everything came together in an unflattering way for them both. But little did he know, he had another problem on his hands and a secret that even he didn't know about himself.

"What should I do now? If they really know then they're probably gonna punish me for being with him. I mean I should know that being with a man is wrong! How can I be so stupid *rambles uncontrollably*"

K couldn't stand it any longer and knocked the boy upside his head with a nearby fan he was using to cool off.

"You can start by relaxing. And there is no law against two men being together or getting married. So in that sense you are not in any real trouble." K explained.

"However, because you are a novice here, you are only a small step above the peasants and he is a noble so for _that _reason you might be in trouble! But fear not, the king won't punish you."

But that was what made Shuichi worry the thought of what his punishment would be if he continued to see Eiri. He worried that he would damage the prince's reputation if he continued to be romantically involved with him. Sakano awoke after hearing their conversation. He then realized how much the rookie changed since their journey began. Deciding that now wasn't the time to say anything, he went back to sleep. K stepped out of the room and thought about what happened.

'I never thought that I'd be back in here. Considering the fact that I was supposed to be killed if I ever came back, some thing about my life will never change, other's I wish would.' He pulled out a picture of a young man, at least young looking.

'I wish I didn't leave you behind, but I had no choice, I only hope that you don't hate me…Ryuichi.'

* * *

Back in their room Hiro couldn't help but wonder about what happened between him and Saiou four days ago. One minute the evil half was taunting him and the next he was showing tenderness. That really confused the sorcerer and then on top of that, he was Suguru again. Or at least gave the illusion that he was Suguru. Something seemed strange about how Saiou was, was he evil or was he simply jealous of his other half.

"There has to be a way to get him back." Hiro said to himself. "I just have to have Suguru back. But how, how do I get him back, can I get him back? I don't know what's going to happen. Can I bring myself to love Saiou?"

All of these thoughts ran through his mind as he looked at the body that belonged to his dead lover.

_You may look like Suguru, and at times act like him but you're not him, and I don't know if I can accept you. But I'll try to._ Hiro said. _As soon as I find a way to get Suguru back, I'm locking you away; I never want you to come out again!_

Eiri was in his room writing in his tables.(**1) **after all the craziness over the past year and all the adventures, it seemed like he had become a new person. At first he had no idea what it was like to travel, being stuck in a palace all day and not having much to do or much say in what went on was not only boring for the blond, but very annoying. Deep down he always did want an adventure and he finally got one. But after what happened almost a week ago, it could all end. Then again, the king did say that he had to marry Ayaka at the end of summer, and it was the middle of fall.

_I'm not sure what will happen in the next year, but I do know, I won't be bored here that's for sure. I met some interesting people on this journey and I've gotten to be rather close to them. As annoying, loud mouthed and nosy as they can be, I have to admit, I like them. As far as the brat goes, I know how I feel about him now. I know I've never said this to or about anyone but, I think I'm in love with him. But I can't tell him. Not because I don't love him. I just don't want to cause anymore trouble for him. That tyrant is already on my ass for sleeping with him. But that won't stop me from seeing him. Then again, I'm worried about what would happen if he hurts me. After what happened with __**him **__I'm not sure if I want to take another chance like that. But I must admit, I feel like l can be I around him and his friends. And I do trust him on some level. But I'll just have to see if I can trust him completely. _

* * *

As he finished writing his thoughts, he pulled out the locket he stared at before. (**2)**

His mother gave him that locket just before she passed away; he never let it out of his sight since. The music played as his same thoughts continued. After the music finished, he put the trinket away.

"Something tells me, we're in for more problems ahead." He said to himself. "I think those pirates attacking us were only the beginning."

End of vol. 1

Alright everyone that's it for Vol. 1 of Heart of Duty. Tell me what you guys thought. I know the way it ended was kind of a cliffhanger. Anyway, I hope you see how all of the foreshadowing and the recent events tied together, in away I'm sort of foreshadowing what' going to happen in vol. 2 the poll is up so vote if you didn't yet.

Thing to elaborate on.

In that time Period, Tables is another word for a journal, Eiri writes in his journal every single day.

The locket from chapter 5.

I want to thank everyone who read and reviewed my story. Especially chocowilliams and papertrails for their constructive comments. Chochowilliams thanks for being a loyal reader and reviewer, I really appreciate it. Vol 2 will be up next Monday. See you then.


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